Instant Black Sheep
by Kat Harris
Summary: Severitus. Set after OotP. Harry isn't as sweet and innocent as we always thought. Snape has the perfect family. How will Harry fit in when he finds out Snape is his father, and more importantly, will any of them want him too? Will contain Slash.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so this is my first ever story so I'm sorry if it sux big time also I have no beta so all mistakes are mine! Feel free to hate me and never read my stuff again!

Disclaimer: Not mine, none of it is mine, and I'm a broke uni student so suing will get ya nowhere!

**Instant Black Sheep**

Introduction 

This is set just after OotP so everything is pretty much canon, everything that happened in the book did happen in this story, it's just that there was more to the story.

Severus may act like a total arsehole at school, mainly because he is a spy and has to, but he is also a bit of a family man. He has a wife and 2 year old son at home and he really is a good dad and husband. Takes Tainen, his kid, to Quidditch matches and reads him bed time stories and stuff, surprises Cassiopeia, his wife with flowers for no reason, etc. There is nothing more important to him then family and he refuses to take his own for granted.

He has a history with Lily which will be examined in the story, don't wanna give it away.

When Harry first entered the magical world at 11 he felt like he was instantly stuck in a mold and he felt that he had a duty to the magical world, but more importantly, to his parents, to become this perfect little savior. As such, he allowed the hat to sort him into any house but Slytherin, bonus points for avoiding Draco!

What no one knows is that he embraced his slightly darker side years ago. By 11 he could no longer claim virgin status, and he was intimately acquainted with practically every form of booze and most drugs. He was never anywhere near the sweet and innocent picture the magical world needed him to be.

Although he mostly only has ugly hand-me-downs from his cousin he did manage to acquire some nice clothes too from a secret trip to Diagon Ally at the beginning of summer following his first year. His family prefers not to think about how he got those clothes because, knowing what a druggie slut he is (not that I'm suggesting he is a bad person, druggies are nice people too and sex is just another word for fun), they pretty much believe that he whored for them.

Harry's relationship with his family is interesting. It's not as bad as the books make it seem. Yes, Vernon did lock him up following first year with the excuse of his magic, but he also did it because secretly he was worried about Harry, he was getting into even more booze, drugs and sex then usual, and they believed he whored for his new clothes. Yes, they mock him, let that bloody dog bite him, make him do all the chores, treat him like shit, but when he was 6 and broke his arm when he fell down they cancelled a family holiday so they could take care of him rather then leave him at Mrs. Figg. Yes, they locked him in a cupboard but they never beat him. Yes, he didn't get mass amounts of food or any treats, but he was never starved or even malnourished.

They are not _absolute_ arseholes, and that one time when Harry really needed them, just short of his 10th birthday, they were there for him, 110! Again read the story if ya wanna know what happened that he would need the Dursleys and that they would be there.

**Chapter One**

Although he'd never been there before it didn't take Severus long to find number 4 Privet Drive. The street was dark as he apparated in, not too surprising considering that it was heading on towards 10:00 at night. He couldn't believe the turn the day had taken, if at breakfast this morning, as he drank pumpkin juice and ate his morning omelet with his wife and 2 year old son, someone had told him he'd be stalking toward the home of _Harry Potter_, 'no', his mind rejected that thought even as he had it 'stalking toward the home of his _son_' that evening he would have told them they were crazy.

'My son' The thought still hadn't quite stopped pounding through his mind, playing on a continuous loop, 'My son'. He'd never known, he'd never even suspected. 'She didn't want me too…' the thought began but he stopped it without even meaning too, not yet ready or able to deal with where that thought would lead, the long buried memories it would dredge up from where he had painstaking buried them long ago.

As he started up the path toward the front door, his normally so sure footsteps faulted. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? How did one even begin such a conversation? 'Hi Harry, I'm your father.' Maybe not. 'So Harry, here's the thing, your mum and I used to…' Right, that'd work, sure. Perhaps 'Dumbledore never told you what happened to your father…'

'Oh great, I'm finally losing it' Severus thought as he began to deeply regret ever letting Lily talk him into going a muggle _movie_. Not knowing what else to do Severus fell back on the habits of a lifetime, 'when in doubt, observe', he slid into the shadows and began slinking toward the side of the house where he could here voices.

At the side of the house he had a perfect view of the family room, where Vernon Dursley and Harry were currently involved in what appeared to be a rather heated argument. Or more correctly, Harry was in the process of being yelled at. Unfortunately for Severus he could only catch random parts of the lecture…

"…good for nothing… slut like your mother… going to end… freak… burned dinner… ungrateful…"

Severus watched from the shadows assuming that Harry had pulled another one of his stunts like he so often did at school, therefore earning this dressing down, even if it did seem a bit harsh. Although he didn't catch what was said Severus could see Harry make a comment at this point, and before he knew what was happening the extremely obese man who had to be Harry's uncle had backhanded him so hard that it was all Harry could do to keep his footing.

Severus stood frozen, too shocked by what he had seen to do anything. He didn't even react when Vernon Dursley swept out of the room following a parting comment which was lost on the summer breeze.

Harry stood in the family room for a moment, absolutely still, with no idea that he was being watched. Severus watched, still stuck to the spot as _his son_ reached up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth before following the same path his uncle had as he left the room and Severus' sight.

Severus still hadn't managed to snap back to himself when, a good 10 minutes later, he heard the front door close in a half slam. From his spot at the side of the house he could see Harry begin off up the street, no longer wearing the over large jeans and sweat shirt he had had on in the family room. Now he was dressed in what, if Severus had of been capable of thought at that point, he would have been forced to think of as practically indecent. Dark jeans so tight that he knew now what Lily had meant when she once said a muggle rock star wore pants that had to have been painted on and an overly tight long sleeved T-shirt, which by the light of a streetlight Severus could tell, was see-through.

As Harry passed from Severus' vision he finally came back to himself, snapping back into reality with enough force to make his head spin with the new information and send him hurrying down the street after his newly acquired son.

Trying to catch up to Harry as he heading down street after street, Severus tried o think of some opening line for when he finally caught up to his son. Each one was quickly rejected and Severus, with a sense of dread, knew he'd have to improvise, something, that while he may be good at after so many years as a spy, he hated having to do.

The lights and noise took some time to penetrate Snape's distracted mind, or he would have called out to Harry, made a point of catching him, before he reached the party that Severus now realized he was headed toward. God awful noise that Severus hesitated to call music and random drunks spilled out onto the front lawn of the house which Harry was entering even before Severus really knew what was happening. From the quick greatings, which Harry had exchanged with the people out the front, Severus realized that Harry knew these people.

Reluctant to leave his 16 year old son alone in such a place but knowing that he couldn't simply enter as he was, Severus muttered a quick invisibility spell and for the second time that night crept down the side of the house. The noise seemed to be focused out back, and the closer Snape got the louder the sounds of the party got. When he reached the backyard Snape perched on the corner of the fence from which he could observe the entire party.

Severus had never seen a party like this, not ever during his slightly rebellious faze as a teenager. Scantily clad teens of both sexes were drinking, doing muggle drugs, dancing in a manner he would be more inclined to refer to as fucking upright, and speaking of fucking, every half shadowed part of the yard seemed to be occupied by 2 or more people engaging in various acts of intercourse, and that wasn't even mentioning the few people who couldn't seem to be bothered finding a shadowed corner, or the revolving groups of people headed in and out of the house, returning each time looking, for lack of a better term, 'well fucked'. And there, in the middle of it all, his _SON_, doing body shots of an underwear only clad girl and lines of some white powder which Severus knew had to be a muggle drug.

Again, Severus found himself frozen to the spot. Later he would tell himself that he didn't do anything because that wasn't the ideal way to open a dialogue with this lost son of his but if he was honest with himself he was just too overwhelmed, to shocked to move as his son, another boy and a girl stumbled into a newly free shadowed corner of the yard. Severus at least had the presence of mind to realize he didn't want to see this and turned away. Unfortunately, that shadowed corner happened to be just near where he was sitting, and in that way that fate has he suddenly seemed to be able to hear over the too loud music. And all he could think as he tried not to listen to his son and these people fucking just 5 feet from him, was that, if Lily could see their 16 year old son now, she would be rolling in her grave. And he was almost grateful to hear his son cum and wonder back over to the dance floor, almost grateful when the next time his son decided to stumbled with multiple partners toward a more private location he decided on the house, at least that way Severus need not witness what he hoped to never see again.

5 hours later, more alcohol then Severus thought he had consumed in his lifetime, more of the white muggle powder, two different types of tablets and probably almost as many people as Severus had slept with in his life, Severus could take it no more. As Harry stumbled into a quite corner of the party, alone this time, Severus made his move. Sweeping to a position just in front of Harry Severus muttered the counter to his invisibility spell. Expecting to shock his son, Severus was surprised when Harry met his eyes only slightly blearily, appearing resigned rather then shocked.

"'Fessor Snape, what this time? What's happened this time? Please tell me no one is dead."

"Dead? What are you talking about boy?" The sneering tone that Severus had always used around Harry seemed to fall from his mouth without thought and Snape wanted to cringe, 'this is already going so wrong'.

"I figure the only time ya'll stop-by during summer is when dear Tommy-boy does some'ang… what'd he do?"

"Nothing of note Mr. Potter. Instead I am here to discuss exactly what you are doing in this… _brothel_!" Even though he knew this was not the way to gain the boys trust he couldn't seem to stop himself as the scornful and disgusted words dripped from his mouth.

And the boy laughed! "_Brothel_? I ain't seen any money change hands so far tonight but hey, what ever ya want. (hiccup) If that's all you wanted to chat about 'fessor, I better be getting back"

As Harry tried to push past Severus, he lost his temper, grabbing his son in what he knew was probably to tight a grip, "You will not go back there, acting no better then a_ common whore_!"

That fire his son was famous for flared in his eyes and with a rage far greater then any Snape had ever seen in his son Harry turned on him. "_Whore? WHORE!_ I may be a lot of things Snape but I am not now, nor have I ever been, a WHORE! I may be a slut, a skank, hell I may even be as arrogant as you say I am but never call me a whore again!"

Harry tried to pull away, but Snape refused to let go. "You are not going back over there. Circe help me but you are my _SON_ and you will not act like some nothing trollop."

Harry's POV

He was finally feeling better, feeling more like himself. Earlier he had felt like he was coming out of his skin, his uncle was being an arsehole again, and he just couldn't breathe anymore. He hated that feeling, hated the way he felt like he needed to scratch his skin off, hated the way he couldn't stay still when he got like that. Luckily he knew that Jason was having a party tonight. The perfect place to finally be able to breathe again.

So he came, he drank, he drugged, he danced and then he fucked like some sailor on his first cruise. He could feel it, the tension flowing off of him, he could finally fit in his own skin again. He decided to get some air, and slipped off to a corner of the yard for a few minutes. Figures it was going to well. Figures something had to fuck it up.

Fucking Snape. When he first appeared Harry figured maybe something was up with Tommy again, but Snape said no, said he was there to talk about what Harry was doing in this _brothel_. Ha! Please!

But then he crossed the line. Probably the only line Harry has that he can't let anyone cross. Called him a WHORE! A WHORE! He may be a lot of things but he is not a whore! Couldn't let him do that, call him that! He couldn't stand it! Just that word and he could feel it starting in him again, the feeling that drove him out here tonight, that feeling like a billion ants are crawling just under his skin. It was starting again, but so far it was only low key, building slowly. Another drink and a quickie against the fence would fix it.

Oh how wrong he was. Drunk he may be. High he may be. So sexed up he could barely remember his own name but he still caught it. "MY _SON_" Snape's words. Snape's exact words. "my son". And oh how Harry wishes that he was just that little bit drunker, or higher or more fucked so that he couldn't understand those words cause now that feeling wasn't so low key. He was coming out of his skin again and he had a feeling that Snape wasn't going to let him fix it this time, and he knew he was in no condition to fight. "My son".

The blood was rushing in his ears and he needed to run, needed to get away, and make this not true because something was telling him that if he listened for just half a second he would know it was true, it would be undeniable and he couldn't let that happen.

He tried to pull out of Snape's grasp, and Harry thinks that his panic must have been obvious on his face because Snape has this look like he is almost sorry for what he just said. Like he knows it hurt the way he just blurted it out like that, and he wishes he hadn't hurt him. But this is Snape, he lives to hurt Harry Potter! And the blood is pounding through his ears and suddenly he can't breathe. Not like earlier when it was just the claustrophobia within his own skin but now it's like that time during the Triwizard Touriment when the gillyweed ran out and he was underwater without gills. He can't breathe and everything is getting darker and he knows in some distant corner of his mind that he is panicking, that _this_ is the kind of blind panic that most people feel when facing Tommy-boy, and _Snape_ is the one that reduced him to it.

'Pathetic' is his last thought before he passes out…

Please R&R… like I said at the beginning, this is my first ever story and if I don't think anyone likes it after a bit I'll probably just give up… of course if I et even 1 loyal reader I'd feel bad if I stopped so I'd probably continue! But PLEASE, Read and Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to those who reviewed! I was way excited! So, here's the next chapter! ( I know I'm spoiling you but uni is back soon and I'll have to slow down then so I'm trying to get as much out now!)

Chapter Two 

Earlier that day…

Severus was most annoyed. He had been eating breakfast with his family, debating with Cassi what to do with the fine summer day beginning outside when Fawkes had flared in. The letter was short, _requesting_ Severus' presence in that way that only Albus could manage, a request that while seeming polite was really no request at all. Cassi was used to such things and merely smirked at her husband's scowling face, even as he kissed her and then their son good-bye. Stepping into the now green flaring fire Severus snarled "Hogwarts- Headmaster's office".

His mood was not improved when he was met with Albus' twinkling blue eyes as he stepped out of the fireplace. "Tea, Severus?" Albus offered, as he always did, not surprised when Severus merely glared in response, he never accepted the tea. "Lemondrop?" or the lemondrops.

"Albus, while you may have nothing better to do with your summer, I prefer to enjoy my time free of these brats with my family"

Severus was actually surprised when Albus' eyes lost their famous twinkle. Severus had only ever seen the old man this serious once before, and that was the night that Albus had announced the death of Lily and James Potter. Severus had been a spy for many years, and he had survived in an occupation which did not forgive mistakes by knowing when it was better to simply shut up and wait. He quickly decided this was one of those times.

It did not take Albus long. "Some months past I received a letter, time delayed by Lily Potter to arrive exactly 6 months before he son's 16th birthday if anything should unfortunately happen to herself or to James. The letter spoke of an event which occurred shortly before her marriage to James, apparently 2 months before her wedding she began to have doubts, get 'cold feet' as the muggles say. Apparently during this time she ran into someone who had once meant a great deal to her. Do you remember the event to which I am referring Severus?"

Severus wasn't sure if Albus truly wanted an answer but he somehow felt compelled to offer one anyway. "I do Albus" Although he felt he should offer more his throat seemed to freeze shut. 'Why must Albus draw out old memories best left behind?'

"As you know Lily returned to James, surer now then ever of the decision she had made and continued with her plan to marry him. What none of us knew was that it didn't take her long to realize she was pregnant. The timing meant that she could not be sure if it was James' child, she managed to find a spell which would identify paternity. Not wanting to hurt James but knowing she couldn't lie to him either, she went to him and told him he the truth, about what had happened, about the fact that the child she now carried wasn't his."

Each word seemed to freeze his heart a little more, squeeze his throat a little tighter. He wasn't sure how he continued to breathe, wasn't sure how he was managing to sit quietly while his mind screamed at him to say something, question, protest, deny… anything! Lily only had one child and that child was a little James in everyway.

"Lily gave James the option of ending their engagement, but he loved her and he knew that she did love him. He also knew why she had originally ended her relationship with you, that your… political opinions at the time would not have allowed you a 'bastard child' to a _muggle_-born witch. As such, James and Lily decided to continue with their engagement and no one would ever know that the child wasn't James'. They would use a glamour to ensure that he appeared as a child of theirs should and James claimed Harry as his in every sense of the word."

'Harry'. Until Albus actually said his name Severus had been hoping that somehow they were discussing some other child. But no, the fates rarely smiled his way and it seemed that this time they were smirking. He always wanted a family, felt his child, any child, was a blessing. Now he finds out that he was 'blessed' so long ago, and that that child had been kept from him. On some level he almost understood but that small part of him was buried deeply under the rage at having his son kept from him, the rage that first Lily, then James and finally Albus had conspired to keep his child from him.

Like a good little spy, he covered his emotional response without thought, hiding his rage until he had time and opportunity to properly express it. Besides, right now Severus needed all the information he could gain, and Albus was his only source. He knew that he _didn't know_ Harry, not really. He was so busy maintaining his cover as the perfect little Death Eater that he never had the opportunity to get to know Harry, plus when he went to tell Harry later, and he would tell Harry, he would claim his son, he wanted to be able to tell the teen as much as he could, answer all the questions he was able to.

"Continue."

It seemed to be all Severus could manage to say, he hoped that for once Albus would give the information that the other person in the room sought, not what little information the old man felt the other person needed to know. (But no, Severus wasn't bitter right now at all.)

"I assume you mean why didn't I tell you 6 months ago when I found out, or perhaps why am I telling you now? I wanted to tell you Severus, I did, but Lily's letter requested that I didn't, not until after Harry's 16th birthday. She knew that you could never let such information rest, that you would act in some way, though she was unsure as to how, and as such she insisted that I wait till the last possible moment, that is now. The charm Lily and James used would only last approximately 16 years without renewal; they expected it to wear out within a few months of his birthday, either side. That is why I was made aware so early, incase the charm failed and Harry came to me for answers. He has not, but the time is coming and now that he is 16 Lily felt that he had a right to know."

So, his son probably did look like him. The thought gave cold comfort as he realized what was being said, the implications to this child. They were going to pull his whole world out from under his feet. 'Your father isn't your father, your face isn't your face, dear gods above let there be no more!'

"Where is he? Where is my _son_?" Severus knew that his anger was showing now, but he didn't seem to be able to care. He saw the protest begin on Albus lips and, though his glares had never proven effective before against the old man, this time Albus paused at his look and decided to merely answer the question.

"At his Aunt and Uncle's home in Little Whinging."

Severus seemed to almost _slam_ the green powder into the fireplace and left before Albus could gather himself enough to comment.

Severus, despite what some may think, knew better then to approach someone and hope for a favorable outcome in the mood he was in. Stepping though to Snape manor Severus didn't even pause to greet his wife and son before sweeping upstairs. His wife knew something was very wrong. Handing Tainen off to a House Elf Cassi quickly followed her husband.

She was shocked when she found him in their bedroom. With the anger in his every step downstairs she had expected to face a hurricane, not this broken looking man on his knees in the middle of the room. She rushed to him and he clung to her, unable yet to put into words what had happened that morning. Lucky for him, she knew him and understood this, merely holding him, waiting for him to gather himself. When at last he could speak the story poured from his lips, uncensored passion spewing forth all the feelings behind the facts.

She knew about Lily, knew what had happened. She knew all of him and as such knew his anguish at finding out he had a son he did not know. Hours past as she held him and he spoke till he had no more words. And she still held him. The sun set and the room darkened, she spared a thought for checking on Tainen but knew that the Elves would take care of him and right now this was more important. Eventually she felt Severus pull himself together.

"Go, bring your son home with you." They shared a kiss, him searching for the strength to do this, and her giving it freely. With that he was gone, walking till he was beyond the apparation barriers where he left with a crack.

Please R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to those who reviewed! Love it if more of ya did! 

And on with the story…

Chapter Three

Harry woke up with a splitting headache. This wasn't a particularly unusual situation so he barely gave it a moment's thought as he gathered the energy, or perhaps strength, to open his eyes.

Harry woke up in a strange room; he was willing to bet in a strange house. This also wasn't a particularly unusual situation, so again he barely gave it a moment's thought. The room seemed large, with floor to ceiling windows taking up one entire wall, a glass door set in the middle lead outside, but Harry really didn't care right now where too. He was lying on very soft dark blue sheets on a dark cheery wood four poster king size bed, with matching bedroom furniture around it. The walls were off-white, set with two doors. Harry could really care less, he was really much more concerned with how he was going to manage standing, getting home, and then doing all his chores. But for now, the first problem…

'Stand!' the order seemed to take awhile for his body to receive but once it did he managed to stand on soft carpet the same color as the bed sheets, shocked to find himself still dressed. With the ease of someone very used to 'the morning after', meaning that while he looked like an arthritic 90 year old he still somehow managed it in an amazingly short period of time, he began to take full stock of himself.

Based on his body, he had drank a great deal, drugged a great deal, fucked a great deal, and managed to avoid any fights… translation- sore muscles, bad headache, and he really wasn't prepared to attempt any food, but otherwise fine. Now for the next step in this routine.

'Getting home. First problem- where am I?' Harry usually found that the direct approach worked fairly well in this sort of situation. With that in mind Harry headed towards one of the closed doors, hoping to luckout, he found a hall with skylights showing the blue sky above. 'Score one for HJ." Looking down the hall both ways Harry saw closed doors ending in a turn one way, but leading off to a balcony with stairs in the other. Heading for the stairs Harry really hoped there was coffee down there.

He could hear voices downstairs, but couldn't quite be bothered raising his hooded, bloodshot eyes to look, so it was a bit of a surprise when a small whirlwind slammed into his legs as he stepped off the last stair. Looking down he saw that the whirlwind was a small boy, probably about 2, with black hair, pale skin with the slightest tan and when he looked up Harry could see his dark blue eyes, tiny button nose and thinish red lips. He was dressed in khaki green shorts and a dark blue T-shirt with a dragon on it. Harry was so shocked by the shirt 'Did that dragon just breath fire?' that he almost missed the whirlwind start speaking.

"Hi Harry, daddy sez brekfist, tum on!" that was about all Harry managed to make out before the whirlwind started dragging him across a large family room, and through a door all the while talking a mile a minute in some half language that for the life of him Harry couldn't understand. ((Hi Harry, daddy says breakfast, come on!))

Through the door Harry was met with a sight he never thought to see, Severus Snape, wearing jeans and a dark green T-shirt, was sitting in a bright and sunny dining room done in different tones of yellow, with a large oak table and chairs, while open French doors lead outside to a brilliant day. Sitting next to an empty high chair was a lady; she had light brown hair with blue eyes, the same nose as the little boy and tanned skin. Her beautifully curved body was draped in a cream summer dress with blood red roses on dark green stems. The table was piled high with various breakfast foods, but Harry couldn't have cared less right now.

The sight which he had just met was enough to slap Harry's brain into the impression of action. He could suddenly remember in blinding color and surround sound everything that happened last night, 'my son'. For all of a quarter of a second Harry started to panic again before he decided to take a more tried and true track for him. He shut down. He told his mind that now was not the time for this- focus on the immediate situation. Harry was used to situations where he a) didn't really have any clue what was happening and b) didn't want to be there, so he simply applied his hard learned lessons to this situation too. Appear confident, and get the hell out of there as soon as you can…

"Good morning professor. This young whirlwind here said something about dragging me to breakfast." Harry gave his best effort at a smile though he knew it probably looked like the sickly imitation it was, and ruffled the hair of the boy still holding his hand.

"Indeed Harry. Sit down and help yourself to breakfast." Deciding that at this point his other options were limited Harry sat down at a seat far enough away from Snape and his family to give himself space but not so far as to be rude. The boy headed over to the high chair and the lady helped him up into it. "That whirlwind is my son Tainen and this is my wife Cassi."

Making some random noise in his throat which he hoped Snape took as agreement, Harry dove into the cup of strong black coffee he had poured while Snape spoke. He didn't even attempt to make a reply as he finished his first cup and poured a second, this one he nursed, taking only a small sip before sighing, and closing his sore eyes.

"Eat Harry." It was a soft order carrying with it a gentle rebuke, a tone he had never heard from Snape before. That didn't mean he was any more inclined to take this order then any other order Snape had ever given him.

Harry knew his smile looked forced as he opened his eyes to meet Snape's. "Thank-you sir, but I'm really not hungry this morning. If you could show me out of here I'll be on my way back to my relatives. They're bound to be very worried about me after I didn't return home last night"

Something seemed to flash briefly in Snape's eyes before he got it under control. "We'll talk about that after breakfast, eat." This time the order wasn't so soft, and Harry knew that refusing again would lead to trouble. In his highly delicate state, Harry really wished to avoid trouble. With a half concealed sneered of disgust at Snape Harry spooned some fresh fruit onto his plate, the only thing he felt even remotely confident he would be able to keep down.

Having felt the unease building between her husband and the boy she now knew was her stepson Cassi grabbed the first topic she could in the hope of distracting them both. Unfortunately, Cassi was rather uneasy herself, and in her panic choose extremely poorly indeed.

"Is that a tattoo on your chest?" There was no reprimand in her voice; the question was an innocent attempt at conversation. However it was hard to miss the way her husband's head suddenly snapped toward Harry. 'Oh Merlin'

Harry saw his father 'oh gods no, stay away from there HJ' saw Snape stiffen at the question and realized rather belatedly that his tattoos were visible under his top. Cursing himself for forgetting to hide them in his secret way he knew it was because he normally didn't hide them during the summer that he had forgotten.

With the same false ease he had used earlier to hide his discomfort Harry smiled at Cassi, this time the smile managed to appear sincere to the room, and he appeared totally at ease as he answered. "Yes ma'am. On my chest I have a white Lily woven through the antlers of a stag."

Knowing full well what that tattoo symbolized Cassi forced herself to reply, "Oh please, call me Cassi." Despite her husband's unease, and her own, this conversation seemed to be working as a first attempt to engage her stepson so she decided to continue it. "On your chest? Do you have others? I think I can see something on your arm." She hoped this answer wasn't going to bite her in the arse as well.

"Umm, yeah, I have several. On my arm is an Australian Island Taipan, it's charmed to generally stay perfectly still except for it's eyes which watch the closet person continuously, and if touched it moves as if it's striking but it's a tattoo, so of course it's not. It's commonly called the 'Australian fierce snake', and it's the most poisonous muggle snake on the planet, but not the most deadly. It has the power to kill but rarely does, preferring to be left in peace."

"On the back of my left hip is a golden snitch which is charmed to fly all over my body. I'm a seeker. On the front of my right hip, kinda draped across my hip and stomach is a Hungarian Horntail Dragon, charmed so as it appears to breath fire and can also fly around my torso a bit. I once faced one in the Triwizard Tournament. On my left inner thigh is the Chinese symbol for temptation. On my back I have Thestral wings which are sitting closed against my back most the time but are charmed to flare open at will. Around my left ankle I have a simple black chain with a muggle padlock, it's charmed to never move no matter what. Of course they all have standard muggle repellent charms on them so muggles just see the unmoving original."

Cassi didn't know what to say, desperately searching for a response she offered a weak "They sound lovely", before helping, Tainen who was now finished his breakfast, down from his chair. "If you'll excuse us, I'd better get Tainen cleaned up."

With that she headed upstairs, not missing the tensing of both her husband and stepson now that the convenient distraction that was her presence was departing.

Now that she was gone Harry knew he was going to have to acknowledge Snape, luckily the coffee was hitting his system and seemed to be doing away with his hangover. Oh, this morning or all mornings, he was thankful for his ability to get over a hangover with just a little caffeine!

Snape's POV

The second the teenager entered the room he could tell that he was uncomfortable, Merlin a blind man in Africa could tell that he was uncomfortable. Still, with that typical backbone which had always annoyed Snape, Harry ignored his discomfort and politely offered a greeting and then sat down.

Harry went straight for the coffee and Severus barely caught himself before taking the coffee back and telling Harry he was too young to drink it. That would not have gone over well. The careful rebuke and soft order to eat was all he felt he get away with, without being flatly told where he could place his recommendation.

It shouldn't have surprised him that Harry wanted out of there as fast as he could go, hell really it didn't surprise him. But not surprising and not hurting are two different things and Severus knew his hurt must have shown in his eyes briefly before he got it under control. That was why the next response came out somewhat snapped.

He really didn't know what they were going to discuss after breakfast. He had spoken with Cassi earlier, told her everything, all about last night. And now he was going to have to face his son in the daylight and somehow try to make this right, somehow try to convince him to try, hopefully convince him to come stay with them for the summer but, realistically, hell, all he was hoping for a cessation of overt hostilities in private and an agreement to at least talk together at some point.

His wondering attention returned to his nearly full-grown, and yet brand new, son with whiplash force. He supposed he should be getting used to it after yesterday. Tattoos? TATTOOS? Somehow Severus hadn't noticed the tattoos on his son's chest, back and arms despite the fact that in the light of day they were clearly visible through the see-through T-shirt. He bristled with this new information about the teen. TATTOOS! It just kept getting worse! At this point Severus wasn't sure he'd be surprised if it turned out Harry had a kid running around out there somewhere too.

And Damn that child if he didn't answer cool as day, his earlier discomfort seemingly forgotten with this new topic. A Tattoo that symbolized his mother and James. On his chest, right over his heart.

And there were more. The most poisonous muggle snake on earth, which while deadly, rarely killed, gee, was he trying to say something! Of course a snitch, can't forget that. The bloody dragon he fought and beat in that stupid tournament. The Chinese symbol for temptation, he didn't go into the reasons behind that one but in such a sexual position we can all guess.

Thestral wings, a creature of death, on his back, and a part of him. Another I notice he didn't feel the need to really explain the symbolism of. Slightly disturbing, but not too bad. A simple black chain with a muggle padlock? It's charmed to never move no matter what? The lack of explanation, as well as leaving this tattoo for last, seemed to make it stand out in Severus' mind. It seemed so innocent, a slightly odd choice for a tattoo but okay. Yet Severus had the sinking feeling that it was actually really important and he was failing his son in some way neither of them knew by not knowing what it meant.

And then breakfast was over and Cassi was gone and oh Circe help him now… the tension was getting so thick so fast.

Please, Oh Please, oh Pretty Pretty Please R&R!

Will dance for reviews…


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: In My third chapter I said Harry fought a Chinese Fireball, he actually went against a Hungarian Horntail: Thank-you to those who pointed it out, it was much appreciated. And to those with no idea what I'm talking about, that is because I have now fixed the chapter!

Man I am having a bitch of a time getting this to update… I've been trying for the past 3 hours! Bloody computers!

Thanks to those who reviewed, you guys rock! Keep it up please!

Chapter Four 

Harry refused to be the one to break the uncomfortable silence he and Snape were now 'enjoying'. He wasn't the one with something to say, he had no need to explain himself. Hell, he didn't have some 16 year old son, with some 14 year dead married women, who was passed off as her equally dead husband's kid. He didn't, after 16 years, show up and suddenly make some 'who's your daddy!' comment! But no, Harry realized, he wasn't bitter about being forced into this at all.

Snape knew it was his responsibility to break the silence, knew it was up to him to somehow find the words. Watching his son, and thinking about the way he had handled things this morning, Snape made a decision and hoped to any power above that may be listening that it was the right one. Sugar-free honesty…

"Harry I don't really know where to begin or how to say this in some way that won't seem so wrong, so I'm just going to give you the facts and we'll go from there. Maybe if we both at least know the situation we can decide on which direction to take."

Severus received no response, but he really hadn't been expecting one. Harry didn't even bother to look Snape in the face. At least the git was smart enough to realize that Harry needed to at least get a handle on the basics of this situation before he could attempt to react to it.

"As you already know I went to school with your pa- with Lily and James" Shit he was screwing up _again_. "What you don't know is that Lily and I were friends, she was extremely studious, much like your Ms. Granger, and I was the same. We saw each other so often in the library that we took to, at first, just nodding across the room before each settling in to study but at some point we started to talk, and by the end of first year she was one of my closest friends. As we got older we remained best friends despite the obvious obstacles- she was a Gryffindor, I was a Slytherin. She was muggle-born and well we both know the political leanings of my youth. We used to spend hours fighting about whether muggles should be aloud into the wizarding world. I tended to simply consider your mother the exception to the rule, she of course didn't see it that way. By the end of our 4th year, in an effort to stop extremely repetitive fights, we agreed to disagree, and declared that we would never discuss politics again."

"Without that obvious point of contention always between us, and our friendship growing we started to date in 5th year, right up until about the second month of 7th year. See, in 7th year you'll find that yourself and all your friends will become very focused on what you re going to do after Hogwarts. It was then that Lily realized that just because we didn't talk about didn't mean I didn't still have the same beliefs; she realized that I would at the very least be a Dark Lord sympathizer, if not join the Dark Lord. She couldn't date somebody who in essence hated her. Not her, but muggle-borns, of which she was one. She ended it, and despite our best effort our friendship didn't survive our split. A few months later she started dating James."

Severus wished he could stop there, actually be wished he never had to tell any of this story but that was not to be the case. He spoke about Lily and James' engagement and his decision to join the Dark Lord and then he reached that pivotal event.

"It was about 2 months before she was to marry James when Lily showed up on my doorstep. Despite the fact that we were no longer _friends_, I did still care for your mother and she seemed so upset. Over tea we talked for what seemed like hours. She had become unsure as to her course of action, she told me muggles call it 'cold feet'. I guess she needed to know that we were really over, that we could never work out. I guess you could say we were each others first loves and… I guess somehow things got out of control that day."

Harry understood what he meant just fine and really hoped Snape didn't elaborate on that comment. The really annoying thing was that Harry couldn't particularly fault them yet, he understood the story, understood their actions, even understood, in some abstract way, the need to see your first love again before getting married.

Snape was already talking again, going on to tell Harry about Lily finding out she was pregnant, telling James, them deciding together to keep Harry's true parentage a secret. Harry was relieved to hear that James had known he wasn't his, relieved that when James made the decision to die for his son he had known full well Harry was a son of his heart and not his blood. And still Harry couldn't really fault Lily and James, not even Severus really. He hated that his fucked up psyche meant that screwing around behind your fiancé's back was okay, but the simple fact was that he could understand it.

Learning about the glamour he was under answered some questions Harry had always had but that didn't seem too important right then. Actually only one thing seemed to be of any note right then. And that was that Dumbledore had again kept vital information about his own life from him! He thought that the prophecy was the last of his secrets that was being kept secret even from him, but apparently not. And if that wasn't, what made him think this was?

But Snape had stopped talking now, and was looking at Harry waiting for him to say something, or hell throw something, slam something, just DO something! So Harry really had no time just yet to process this new betrayal of Dumbledore's, he instead had to focus on what his apparent _father_ was telling him.

"Okay, so… you are the man who contributed half the DNA which created me. That's interesting. I understand what you've told me, I get it, and relax, I don't fault your actions, or her's and hey, James really was a pretty innocent little lamb in all this so he's all clear."

Whatever Severus had been expecting this easy acceptance wasn't it. And he really wasn't expecting to be referred to as 'the man who contributed half the DNA which created me'. He froze, none of the little scripts he had been working on furiously since he found out ever went this way and now he had no idea what to do. And Harry didn't seem inclined to give him time to figure it out…

When Snape didn't say anything Harry decided that retreat was really the best policy in life (those who said honest was were obviously insane). To this end Harry brought them back around to his earlier statement. "I really should be getting back, sir. I have chores and I was supposed to be home by breakfast." Somehow, knowing now what he knew, Harry couldn't call Snape 'professor' anymore, though he hated it 'sir' would have to do.

This statement brought a rush of words back to Severus, and gods he wished his son would stop doing that to him. He couldn't just let him leave, had to at least reach some kind of resolve. Going with his gut had seemed to work earlier when he lay everything out for Harry, he had managed to explain the situation without creating either a homicidal or suicidal teen. Maybe it would work again…

"I was hoping that perhaps you would like to stay here? I would like the opportunity to get to know you, and I was hoping that you would get to know me too, and Cassi would of course love to have you." He didn't know it but it was actually the next line which reached Harry, made him pause to think, "Tainen would love to have a big brother around I'm sure"

This was it. Harry had always wanted a family, but still- Snape? He had never been a son before, and at this point in his life it wasn't something he was prepared to try. He knew that he wasn't 'son' material. But a big brother? That was something he had never even given a thought to beyond Ginny Weasley, and she didn't really need any more big brothers. But this little boy, he was so bright and happy. In the two minutes Harry had spent with him, despite his hangover, he had lightened Harry's mood so much. The cynical part of Harry knew that the boy would lose that innocence soon enough, but some new part of him, some part he had never felt before, some part which seemed to have been born when Snape said those words, wanted to protect Tainen from the world.

Harry wasn't used to these sorts of feelings. He only felt this strongly about a few people and _never_ this quickly. But somehow, like a bloody magic word he suddenly wanted to be that little boy's big brother. He may have never been, and may never be a son, but he could be a big brother. And he would be brilliant at it, this he would do…

But he couldn't live here. 9 months out of the year he had to pretend, he only got 3 months to himself and he knew that if he were to stay with Snape he would need to find some other form of 'stress release'. At least when he stayed with the Weasley's during holidays stress relief was still obtainable, and their house was one of the less stressful places he had ever been. Rarely did they make him want to claw his own skin off. But living with _Snape_? With no sex, drugs or alcohol?

"Umm, I'm not sure that's practical sir. Umm, I have things to do, I only get to see my friends for a few months a year, I'd hate to be so far away from them, and I have some plans that can't be cancelled, and, well, umm… look, living with you could be exceptionally awkward, I don't think you'd be thrilled when I stumble through the door at 4 am smashed and I will, so I really think I should just stay where I am. But, I mean, that big brother thing… I kinda liked that, so maybe I could visit or something…"

Harry seemed to run out of steam, not really knowing how he could possibly make this work, but wanting it too. Lucky for him, Severus wanted this to work even more then he did, hell, he would probably have agreed to let Harry throw his disgusting little orgies in the guest cottage if it would just get him to stay, well okay maybe he wouldn't go that far.

"I understand what you're saying. I guess that you probably do miss your _friends_, and I can understand if you have plans organized but I would really like you to stay here. So how about if you had a password activated portkey, which would take you to a designated spot in Little Whinging when you spoke one password and then would bring you back here when you used a different password. If it was something you had on you all the time, like a ring, it would allow free travel between the two locations and, because I would really like to try to make this work, I won't comment at all on any 4 am stumbling I hear."

Although Snape sneered through most of his response Harry was impressed, and more then a little shocked. Snape must really want this. Harry would really rather not think about the possible implications of why Snape would want this so bad and instead focused on the positive- He would get to be near his _little brother_ all the time. He could still relax when he needed. He could still see his friends and go to that concert tomorrow night. And he would be free of the Dursley's! No more dealing with being called a freak, doing all the chores, the occasional slap for whatever indiscretion, and all the other little things which made home life suck. He had been there long enough to reinforce the wards, he could leave, and Snape couldn't really be any worse could he? Plus, life here was looking pretty good, plenty of food, room, sunshine and fresh air. Plenty of pros, only the one major con- Snape- but all up, pros win!

"I think that sounds like a nice idea sir. I'll have to head back to my relatives to get my things but otherwise, I would like to take your offer to stay for the rest of the summer."

Severus contained his happiness with this turn of events only through long practice, 'maybe this will work, maybe we can make this work…'

"Oh except tomorrow night, I'm staying in London with friends over night, other then that though…"

Or maybe it won't be that easy…

If you don't R&R I will personally call your mother and tell her what a naughty little thing you have been!

Review, review, review!


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to all those who reviewed! Appreciate more then I can say!

Okay people, from the first chapter you have to have known that Harry was Bi (if you feel the need to use labels for people). Well in this chapter we really get into the Slash element of this story so be warned! If Slash is not your thing… STOP READING! Don't bitch to me because you did have had fair warning! This story has a definite SLASH element!

Warning: SLASH, though not yet graphic…

Chapter Five 

After their conversation things moved quickly. It only took Severus a few minutes to make a portkey to Little Whinging and then another for Harry's return trip to Snape Manor, and then he left with only a brief nod goodbye. Harry had politely refused his offer to accompany him to his relatives, which made Severus a bit uneasy but there was little he could do. He knew better then to press his luck with Harry by questioning him about what he had seen in the family room of number 4 Privet Dr. the night before. But Severus hadn't forgotten. It was never okay to hit a child, and Harry really hadn't seemed that surprised when his uncle had struck him.

Instead Severus headed upstairs to inform Cassi, and an overly excited Tainen, of the good news. Harry would be staying, with just a few conditions. Cassi felt that it was important that they talk with Harry about not bringing any of his drugs, booze, girls or boys onto the premises where Tainen could find them but otherwise she was happy with the news, happy for her husband who so wanted his sons with him, happy for Tainen who would have a big brother, and happy for herself… who was about to become the 'dreaded stepmother' to a teenager who, despite his manners this morning, from all accounts had a bad attitude. Oh, happy didn't really even begin to define her emotions. But she knew she had to try and make this work, for all their sakes.

While Harry was in Little Whinging Severus headed out to a local jewelry store. His sons birthday was last week and Severus hadn't given him a present, and he needed a nice portkey he could keep with him at all times… a nice ring or maybe a pendent would suit both requirements terrifically.

Severus soon discovered that it wasn't easy shopping for a 16 year old boy you hardly knew. Did he even like jewelry? Was he more into rings, bracelets, or necklaces? If he chose a necklace should it hang halfway down his chest or would be prefer something more chocker like? Did he prefer silver, gold or platinum? Would he prefer a ring with precious stones or not?

It seemed like Severus had been browsing the store for hours, a clerk had tried to help but Severus had dismissed him when every suggestion he made had been so obviously _not_ Harry that even Severus knew they would be wrong. And then he saw it. It was a simple platinum chain, it's round links about the size of Tainen little finger nail when he was born, it would hang so that the charm would sit just above the breastbone. Maybe a little chunky, but Severus somehow knew it would suit his eldest son. _His eldest son_ Severus couldn't help the grin that spread over his face at that thought. It had seemed so natural when he thought it, 'oh yeah, my eldest', 'oh, that's just my eldest's', 'oh, my eldest is a star Quidditch player'… oh gods, he loved that thought!

Hanging from the chain was a simple Celtic Pentacle, which represents the five elements (earth, air, fire, water and spirit) and also the five stages of life (birth, youth, adulthood, old age and death). It was carved from Snakeskin Agate, a gemstone with protection, power and healing properties, and done with crossed lines to layer protection against evil into the charm. It was about an inch and a half in diameter. The shiny metal against a stone which few consider pretty created an interesting effect. It was just plain enough that he thought Harry would wear it, but was still very beautiful. With the necklace in hand, Severus headed home to set it as a multi-use, multi-destination portkey.

Harry's POV

Arriving in a park about a block and a half from the Dursley's Harry promptly sat down under the nearest tree. He considered telling the fates that after the shit they had pulled in the past day he wasn't moving again until they apologized but having tried this once before when high he knew that it wouldn't work, they wouldn't even have the decency to manifest physically and tell his to go screw himself.

It had been a long 30 odd hours and he really just wanted a few minutes to himself before the inevitable fight with his relatives. Harry also figured he would have to owl Ron, Hermione and Charlie about tomorrow. Deciding that Charlie was the least of his problems right now, Harry decided to focus on him, promptly ignoring all other problems.

As a general rule in life Harry rarely slept with the same person twice, well, more correctly, on more then one occasion. Unless he was so drunk that he didn't really remember sleeping with whoever it was. But Charlie was a different story. The first time he ever met the second eldest Weasley he had wanted him probably more then he had ever wanted anyone in his life. It didn't take much to seduce the guy, and they were both happy with the totally casual way they occasionally fell into bed together when Harry visited the Weasley's during summer, the family's direct floo link to Charlie was a real bonus, or the way they sometimes met up in Hogsmeade when Harry made use of the secret tunnels.

Harry knew, in theory, that Charlie wasn't really the type of guy who did casual but as long as Harry was the exception to Charlie's rule Harry didn't mind. Charlie knew that Harry didn't do emotional involvement, that while he did believe in love, he didn't believe it was for him. And this had worked, for far longer then Harry would ever have expected it too, this had worked. And then 2 days ago Harry had turned 15, and when the owls had arrived at midnight, like always, they had brought with them a most unexpected gift, a gift from Charlie.

Charlie had bought Harry 4 tickets to see Linkin Park play in London tomorrow night, he had also mentioned in passing that he was in town and that he was sure he could convince his mother to let Ron out for a the night, and that Hermione's parents would be just as easy to convince. Linkin Park was Harry's favorite band. He would probably have walked on broken glass and hot coals for these tickets, the fact that Charlie had a) remembered they were his favorite, b) remembered Harry telling him they were touring, c) spent so much money on him and d) was prepared to sit through a night of music which Harry knew he hated, said very interesting, and more then slightly alarming, things about Charlie's emotional involvement with Harry. The fact that Harry wasn't really unhappy about this, that it in fact made him feel oddly warm inside, was even more alarming. In fact, if he thought about, that was one of the main reason he had needed so badly to party the night before.

After some go around with Hedwig it had been decided that they would grab a suite at a hotel in London for after the concert and make a real night of it. Harry was feeling very excited about it, and try as he might there was a small part of him that wouldn't shut up saying that a big part of that excitement was in seeing Charlie. Harry really didn't know how to deal with such thoughts. They weren't something he had ever really dealt with before, or ever really expected or wanted to deal with. And now he was sitting under a tree, in a park, trying desperately to not think about Tommy or Snape so instead he was thinking how he was going to stop what he was starting to think might just be an impending train wreak complete with Charlie being hurt and bystanders who should know better.

He could end things. Hell, he could really play the arsehole. After the concert, he could go back to his and Charlie's room, thank him _properly_ for the gift, and then the next morning pull one of those famous 'it's been real' speeches. Charlie might get hurt but better to end it now before he really fell, right? But he didn't really want to part with Charlie, he was a great fuck, had a mouth to die for, and he was someone who Harry could actually talk to sometimes, the first person Harry had ever lain in bed with and just talked. Harry didn't see why he should lose all this just because Charlie had been stupid enough to get emotionally involved. And hey, it wasn't like he was declaring his undying love, right? As long as Charlie didn't say anything, Harry could keep what they had, and just ignore anything else that may be there.

With a definite game plan decided for at least one of his problems Harry figured he really should be getting on with the immediate business of the day. Standing, Harry headed toward his relatives.

The first time Harry had stayed out all night his aunt and uncle had been beside themselves with worry. Of course they never told the boy that, they just grounded him, called him worthless, Vernon may have manhandled him a bit, and gave him plenty of extra chores. The second time was less of a surprise, still worried but tempered by the reassurance of experience. Now they barely blink when he walks in moments before breakfast, and they hide the momentary flash of relief before they begin the standard yelling session. But this morning, breakfast had come and gone, and still Harry didn't stumble in. He was always back in time for breakfast, no matter what he had pulled the night before he always made it back in time for breakfast unless he had actually told them that he wouldn't be there, usually scrawled in a note that he knew he would catch it for later.

So when Harry didn't arrive before breakfast began his aunt and uncle weren't to worried, when he still wasn't there when breakfast finished, they hoped he was just running late, but the unease was defiantly picking up. It was a weekday and as such Vernon needed to be getting off to work, he muttered quickly in Petunia's ear to call when the boy showed up, pecked her on the lips and left, hoping to hide how tense he was behind an especially bad mood. Petunia went about doing the housework, all the while keeping half an eye on the clock. He was never this late. 9o'clock passed, followed at a snails pace but 10, 11 and then 12. Time, slowed by growing fear, seemed to mock her with every sound Dudley made which she hoped was her returning nephew. Suddenly she wished she knew who his friends were, maybe she could have called them. But that would have been taking an interest in his life and they had never been prepared to do that.

At 12:40 her nephew strolled in looking like some hoodlum in tight black jeans a see-through top which showed off his tattoos, the clothes were as rumpled as the boy himself, but right then she had never been so happy to see his trashy little self. Of course, she never let on; instead the relieved gasp of breath she had taken when he entered was used to begin what she hoped would prove to be the lecture of all lectures. He stood there calmly, as always meeting his relative's contempt with an impassive wall. She ranted about his disgusting clothes, his lack of virtue, his substance abuse, his ungratefulness, and several other things which he tried really hard to pay attention too in case there was a test later, but it had already been a long day and he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

Instead of entering a 6th verse of 'woe are we, your poor relatives' Petunia decided to send him upstairs to shower. He decided that a nice shower and a fresh set of clothes would defiantly put him in a better frame of mind before he tried to tell his relatives that he was leaving. Besides, he could use the time upstairs to pack, which meant that after he told them he was leaving he could do just that without delay.

After a quick shower, Harry decided to dress in some of his own clothes instead of Dudley's old hand-me-downs, which he usually still wore around the Dursley's. Throwing on a casual pair of washed out blue jeans, a red wife-beater and his boots Harry began to throw everything he owned in to his school truck. It didn't take long, he tended not to really unpack when he was at the Dursley's, aside of course from his hidey-hole of treasured possessions. It was really just them and some clothes which he needed to pack. Hedwig was currently out hunting, she would find him later. That handled quickly he headed downstairs.

While he was in the shower Petunia had called Vernon to let him know the boy was safe, knowing that the boy probably never realized that they did worry about him. Oh, she knew he knew that they didn't really hate him; he probably just figured it was dislike mixed with extreme disinterest, which maybe it was, when she really tried to identify the emotion. She heard him banging down the stairs and went to see what on earth that racket he was making was, and also she needed to assign him his extra chores for his little misadventure. She was, needless to say, shocked to see him headed downstairs with his trunk and owl cage. They had been given no warning that he would be being removed from them until next year again.

"Are you leaving then, boy? That's all the thanks we get, you don't even think to tell us that you're being picked up today!"

"I only found out today Aunt Petunia. It turns out that I do have another living relative and they have invited me to spend the remainder of the summer getting to know them and their family. I don't know what will happen with next summer but you are free of me for this one." The boy didn't seem particularly thrilled one way or the other, and Petunia figured it was a bit of 'the devil you know' syndrome, but she also knew that while they might not miss him, she also hated the way it was so easy for him to just up and leave them. It barely took 20 minutes to have a shower and pack everything he owned.

"Well then, when will they be here, are you having lunch before you go?" From the look on his face he was as shocked as she was by the offer. Not only did she not yell but she offered him lunch? This had never happened and neither really knew how to react.

"That's okay thank-you. I'm not being picked up, I have a password-activated portkey, I can leave anytime. So, see you next summer I suppose."

It was possibly the weirdest conversation he had ever had with his aunt, both of them trying to be polite, trying to 'chat' and it seemed that it was only going to get weirder…

"Well then you can stay for lunch. It's already made and you will eat it." With that Petunia swept from the room, figuring neither of them could stand it if this got any weirder. Harry decided it was easier to just do it, 'when confused HJ, just go with the flow' this theory had often saved him.

Dragging his trunk and cage with him, he sat at the kitchen table and ate the sandwich Petunia placed in front of him, afterwards he thanked her, she merely nodded and with a half muttered bye he portkeyed away, hoping that somehow his day wouldn't get any weirder but somehow knowing it would.

R&R please!


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to all those who reviewed!

Chapter Six 

Oh boy was Harry right when he assumed that his day was just going to get weirder. His return to Snape manor had landed him in the entrance hall where a House Elf named Cheni had quickly taken charge of his trunk and cage, popping them up to 'his' bedroom with a snap of her fingers. She then informed him that the family was awaiting his presence to enjoy a leisurely lunch on the back patio. Following her he was lead through the dining room he had been in earlier that morning, out the doors he had seen at breakfast onto a small floating deck. From there he could see a grassy field which lead down to a rather large lake, a forest bordered the property on the left and across the back, to the right there seemed to be a large garden, what appeared to be a hedge maze and if Harry wasn't too confused, a Quidditch pitch.

Snape and Cassi were sitting at a small outdoor oak table set on the deck, under a large blue sun umbrella, while Tainen played nearby in the grass with a large blue ball. When Harry arrived food appeared on the table. It appeared lunch today was several types of salad with cold chicken. The second Tainen had seen Harry he had run toward him, quickly repeating that morning's exercise of seeing if he could knock his big brother down by running full pelt into his legs. Harry supposed this was one of those things he was going to have to learn to get used too.

He still hadn't quite learned the language he was beginning to called Tainenese, but as he was being dragged toward the table he did manage to pick out that the boy was hungry, that he had been waiting simply _forever_ for Harry to arrive, was he really his brother, and did he like Tainen's blue ball. At least he thought the last bit was about his blue ball, Tainen seemed to become distracted by the food at this point.

Sitting down to lunch Harry offered a quick hello, more of a tight smile and halfhearted nod of his head really. He had already had lunch, and was really not hungry but they had waited lunch for him and he really didn't think that's saying thanks but no-thanks was the best way to begin this little, well what he had started calling 'adventure in torture'. So he quietly filled a plate with a fresh garden salad, sprinkled the smallest amount of Italian dressing over it, and then added a small piece of chicken as well. Cassi and Snape were doing the same, Cassi first filling Tainen's and chopping everything into child bite sized pieces.

Severus decided that this silence really needed to be filled, and besides he really wanted to know, so between bites he looked at Harry across the table. "How were your relatives? Did you get everything?"

"They were fine, a little annoyed that I stayed out all night without even leaving a note but fine. Yes, I got everything, no problem. Hedwig was out hunting but she'll show up soon enough. She's done it before. She always know just where to find me, sometimes she even shows up at places waiting for me before I know I'm even going to be there."

Harry was trying to keep things light, a friendly chat over a meal. He was working very hard not to cringe at the 'how was your day, son' atmosphere of the question, and trying even harder not to notice the Twilight Zone theme music he would swear he could almost hear in the background. Trying to prevent any more silences, which someone may try to make him fill by asking him more questions, he decided it was better to be the one asking the questions.

"So, what has everyone else been up to today?" he almost cringed at the question and hoped no one else noticed the slightly sarcastic tone he hadn't managed to keep from his voice.

"Oh, Tainen and I took a bit of a walk and then played with his ball for a while, nothing to exciting. Severus had some things he needed to pick up down in the village so we were on our own most the morning."

"Village?" Harry figured it was as good a topic as any, and hey, maybe he'd actually find out where the hell he was.

"Griblery, it's about a 20 minute walk from here. It's not all that large, maybe a little bigger then Hogsmeade. Maybe tomorrow afternoon we can head down there and I'll show you around?"

"Umm, actually, tomorrow afternoon I have plans," Harry cringed, could that sound more like a blow-off? "I mean, I'd love to some other time, but a friend of mine got me some concert tickets for my birthday and it's tomorrow night, but we're meeting up earlier in the day, and then afterwards we're staying at a hotel in London, you know, making a real night of it?" And oh Gods, he really wishes someone would do something to stop him when he starts to babble like that.

"Oh, well, sure, another time, no problem," at least he wasn't the only one who felt the need to babble. "So, a concert, that sounds like a great birthday present, who are you going to see?"

"Linkin Park. They're a muggle band that I really love, my favorite. I would probably have sold my soul for the tickets so I'm very excited, can't wait. I hope they play some of their older stuff as well, a really good mix ya know?" And what happened to the plan about avoiding questions? Now he was volunteering information! Luckily everyone seemed to be finishing up their lunch so he could beg off soon, tell them that he really needed to write to some people and let them know he wasn't at the Dursley's anymore.

He saw Snape and Cassi exchanging looks and he braced himself automatically, knowing something was coming. Snape seemed almost nervous as he pulled something out of his pocket, a quick spell re-enlarged the thing and Harry saw that it was a simply wrapped square shaped box about 4 inches each side and an inch thick.

"I know it was your birthday a few days ago, and well, you needed something that could be a permanent portkey and so, well…" Snape couldn't seem to figure out how to say this, so he kind of shoved the box into Harry's hands, hoping he got the idea.

And I thought getting a preset from Charlie was weird? But a present from Snape beats that hands down. He decided that hesitating would only draw this exceedingly awkward moment out so he quickly unwrapped the box. Taking off the lid he saw a simple, slightly chunky chain with a pentacle done in some type of earthy colored stone hanging from it. The shinny chain against the dull stone made an interesting contrast and he decided he really quite liked it.

"Thank-you." He wasn't very good at gushing, it always seemed so fake when he did it but he saw Snape relax, especially when Harry took the necklace out of the box, running his fingers over it. "How does it work?"

"At the moment the passwords are set so that if you say 'Park' it will take you to the same park this mornings portkey did, say 'Snape Manor' and it will return you to the entrance hall. I put in a few other things, say 'Help' and it will take you to Hogwart's Hospital Wing. To reset the passwords, because those words are a little too every day, say reset password 'Park' and then say the new password, etc. The charm is designed for protection against evil, and as such the series of protective charms I placed on it are quite strong. Also, it is charmed to only come off if you take it off, no one else can take that off you."

Holding the necklace Harry proceeded to reset the passwords into Parseltongue so that he couldn't accidentally activate it. He then put the necklace on. If he had have been looking up at that point he would have seen the look of sheer joy flash through Severus' eyes as his son excepted, and seemed to honestly like, the first ever gift Severus had given him. Cassi did see the look though and couldn't help her own grin from spreading across her face at her husband's happiness. It was perhaps a good thing when Tainen decided he had been ignored long enough and demanded everyone's attention by squealing at the arrival of Hedwig, the three older diners definitely needed the distraction.

Remembering his own fascination with Hedwig when he first met her and taking in the boy's obvious delight at seeing the bird Harry decided it was time to try his hand at the art of big brothering, and maybe get to know the little man too. Holding out his arm for Hedwig, who had alighted briefly on the back of his chair, he stood up and took the bird around to Tainen, who's mother had just released him from that evil contraption that is a high chair. Kneeling down in the grass so he was on the same level as his baby brother Harry spoke very quietly to him, almost like he was sharing some great secret with him that only they were privy to.

"This is Hedwig. She is one of my very best friends and the smartest bird in the world. I bet if you were gentle she wouldn't mind if you petted her." Harry kept talking, telling Tainen about what type of owl Hedwig was, even though he knew the little boy would never remember, and telling him about some of Hedwig's adventures, which were perhaps somewhat made up.

Harry didn't seem to notice the amount of time that passed as he told Tainen tales of Hedwig's great adventures while they gently petted her. He didn't even notice the warm look on Severus' and Cassi's faces as they watched their sons play together. Harry stories kept Tainen in awe. He had just finished a story about the time Hedwig had been caught in a sudden, harsh summer storm while out delivering a letter, which he didn't think had ever actually happened, when he realized how late in the afternoon it was getting, going on 5 o'clock. He still had to contact Ron, Hermione and Charlie about tomorrow and Alex was having a party tonight, which Harry had been planning to show up at. With the lack of sleep Harry had had the night before he really needed to grab some Z's before tonight.

He had Tainen say goodbye to Hedwig and sent her off to the balcony that was outside the room he had woken up in that morning, outside his room. Now that just sounded weird, to this day he tended to refer to his room at the Dursley's as Dudley's second bedroom, forgetting often that it was supposed to be his. And he really was no more comfortable calling his new room 'his' either. He sometimes wondered if maybe his flighty nature had to do with a lack of stability growing up but he tended to disregard that thought whenever he had it, preferring not to psycho analyze himself.

Standing up he turned to Snape and Cassi and enquired as to what time dinner would be. When he was told 6:30 he requested that they not bother calling him down for dinner, he was going to take a bit of a nap.

"Well, I suppose if you're tired but why don't you just wait until after dinner and head up to bed early?" Cassi seemed genuinely confused and concerned for her stepson. Maybe he wasn't feeling well?

"A friend of mine is having some people over and he is expecting me to be there. I have to send a few letters, and then I thought I'd get some sleep before heading off. I'll try not to make too much noise when I come back. Oh and thank-you again for the portkey, it's really nice"

With that Harry was gone, headed back inside. There was little that Cassi and Severus could do other then sit there in shock. Realistically they knew that Harry would be going back and forth between Little Whinging and their home but they somehow didn't think it would happen so soon, or if they were honest, they somehow didn't think it would happen at all. And yet they had agreed to this, there was nothing they could do.

Watching Harry and Tainen spend the afternoon together had alleviated some of Cassi's concerns about having her young son exposed to her rowdy stepson but with the all to soon reminder that he was into all sorts of things other then telling stories under the summer sun Cassi felt that she really needed to have a chat with him, and soon. She told her husband as much, and waved him off when he offered to speak to Harry instead.

Following the path Harry had taken not 15 minutes earlier brought Cassi to a closed door which she knocked on quietly. When that got no response she tried knocking louder. The door opened and Cassi found herself staring at a topless, tattooed 15 year old. He invited her in, seeming unconcerned with his state of undress.

"Sorry if you knocked more then once, I was listening to some music" he said, indicating a small device in a red cover with a wire coming out of it, splitting into two and ending in strange little nubs. Having no idea how he could have been listening to music with this device but assuming that it was a muggle thing Cassi merely nodded. Looking around she noticed that aside from the writing equipment out on the desk, and the owl cage sitting on the dresser you would never know that someone occupied this room.

"Haven't had a chance to unpack yet?" She knew she was stalling but there was nothing wrong with small talk.

"Umm, I'm not much for unpacking really. I tend to take what I need out of my trunk when I need it and then replace it later. No point making a mess. Was there something I could do for you?"

She wasn't sure that she liked the fact that he didn't unpack, like he was always ready to go at a moments notice. Had he always lived like this or was it just in this new situation that he didn't feel secure enough to unpack? But that was a question for a time when they had actually gotten to know each other.

"Umm, I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. Look, I know I have no right to comment on what you may or may not do outside of this house but I just wanted to talk to you about bringing that sort of stuff into this house. Tainen is just a little boy, and he gets into everything, and"- Harry cut her off at this point. Truth is he had been surprised that he hadn't had this conversation already and, while at the Dursley's he may have kept a stash on him, he had decided earlier that he wouldn't keep that kind of thing around Tainen. He'd heard stories of little kids OD'ing really badly because they swallowed something they shouldn't have.

"Relax, I have no intention of bringing anything home with me. You're right, kids do get into everything, and I would hate it if Tainen found something he wasn't supposed to and got hurt. I already ditched my stash before I left the Dursley's and I won't bring anything here with me."

Cassi was relieved that Harry seemed to have thought about such things on his own. As she got up to leave she said "Thank-you. I was just concerned. I hope you weren't offended, I just don't know you very well, didn't know if you would have thought about such things."

"It's no problem, I wasn't offended." With a slightly sarcastic twist of his lips Harry told her, "You know what they say- Drink, Drug and Fuck with your brain." He nodded his goodbye and shut the door. Leaving a very relieved, and extremely confused Cassi. She had the distinct impression that her stepson was going to be an adventure in and of himself, the only problem was that she wasn't sure she appreciated being signed on to this adventure without warning, and especially without a guide book.

In his room Harry put his ear phones back in and turned his IPod up. He had originally planned to meet the others is London at 6pm tomorrow, time enough to go out for dinner before the concert but now he really needed to talk to them, and that was likely to take far longer then dinner and drinks. With that in mind he set about writing a letter which would instill in them the right amount of urgency without making them panic, and would ensure their presence at 3pm. After writing a note which he hoped conveyed the importance of the situation without actually giving any facts he sent the letters off, got changed and went to bed, setting the alarm on his watch to wake him at 9 o'clock.

Please Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks to all those who reviewed!

**Chapter Seven**

Harry's sleep was plagued by nightmares and he awoke sweaty and panting when his alarm went off at 9 pm that night. As this was the norm for him when sleeping, as opposed to passing out, he simply lay in bed catching his breath before getting up and heading for the shower, determinately not thinking about his dream. He knew he wasn't yet ready to deal with his Godfather's death. Since he was in no rush tonight Harry took his time in the shower, and a good 15 minutes passed before he began rifling through his trunk in search of just the right outfit for tonight.

Choosing washed out, tight black jeans with a bootleg cut and a vibrant blue T-shirt that had random tears with safety pins through them, Harry got dressed and headed back into the bathroom to quickly brush his hair, deciding that when he got to Little Whinging he would add some blue streaks to match his shirt.

That done, Harry headed down stairs to find Snape and Cassi relaxing in the family room reading quietly. Cassi was the first to notice him and she was careful not to react to his clothing, deciding instead to ask him if he wanted something to eat before he left. Harry said he didn't want to be a bother but when Cassi assured him it was no bother, and she would really prefer it if he would eat he agreed to eat a quick sandwich. While the House Elf Cassi called was seeing to that Severus seemed to shake himself out of his shock.

Of course, no longer being in shock didn't mean he had any idea what to say to fill the uncomfortable silence. "So, umm, where are you headed tonight?"

Harry vaguely consider pointing out that it this wasn't really Severus' business, hating to set a precedent where Snape might feel he had a right to information about Harry's life, but instead he decided that if he had to wait for the sandwich he may as well hold some form of conversation. Something about these people suggested that silence was always gonna be worse.

"Just to a friend's place, Alex is having a few people over."

"Sounds great." Harry figured Cassi felt the same way about silence from the way she was always trying just as hard, if not harder then himself, to fill them. Lucky just then a House Elf Harry hadn't met before popped in with a chicken salad sandwich. Deciding that he'd really rather not stick around any longer then he had to, Harry grabbed both halves of the sandwich and excused himself, activating the portkey before either of the adults had a chance to respond.

Arriving in the park Harry ate half the sandwich quickly, throwing away the other half. He had eaten more food today then he thought he had ever eaten in a single day before and he didn't think he could stand any more. Harry then called to mind the image of himself he always held in the back of his mind and with just a small amount of focus added blue highlights to his hair, he knew without needing to find a mirror that his appearance had changed to match his internal image.

Harry had never really thought much about the time he had fixed the length of his hair after his aunt had cut it. After joining the magical world he just assumed it was normal accidental magic, that is until the summer following his second year. A friend of his had just gotten bright orange contact lenses, and told Harry all about the different types of lens you could get. The next morning Harry had stood in front of the bathroom mirror trying to picture himself without his famous green eyes, trying to picture himself with blue eyes. His eyes felt slightly weird for a moment and when he looked he had blue eyes just like he had imagined them. In his surprise he lost his focus and they turned green again. Over the next few weeks every chance Harry got he tried to change the color of his eyes until he got really good at it, he could change the color at will, and hold the new color for as long as he wanted without thought.

Having achieved that, he tried other things. Changing his nose felt even weirder then his eyes had, it was the same weird feeling but it was like he first had to fight through a spider's web of resistance. His hair he found was practically impossible to change. That same spider's web was there except this time it was steel reinforced, and practically impossible to alter, after several weeks of trying he was able to change the length a little and sometimes the color. Harry had plenty of time to practice since he was locked in his room.

He also had plenty of time to think. He knew Voldemort wasn't gone and just because he had stopped him this time didn't mean that Voldemort wouldn't be successful in returning next time he tried. It may be a little thing being able to change a few of your features but that small chance of disguise may be the entire defense Harry had. With that thought firmly in mind Harry never even considered revealing his new talent to his friends, and he firmly swore to never change his features or remove his scar while in the magical world. Of course, when he got his first tattoo the summer after third year he did so fully planning to hide it during the school year using his hidden talent, the same way he hid each subsequent tattoo since.

Meeting Tonks had been a real eye opener. He finally had a name for that hidden talent of his. Knowing what it was he now had a way to research it. Whenever anyone found him with a book on Metamorphmagi he just explained it away by saying he was intrigued by the ability after having met Tonks. The books were most helpful, helping him to understand the extent of his abilities.

Also explaining that the feeling of having to fight through a spider's web was a sign of having a glamour cast on you. When it was fairly easy to fight through the web it meant that the glamour was only light, only altering your appearance a bit, when it was very hard to fight through the spider's web it meant the glamour was very thick, altering your natural appearance a lot. Although Harry would have loved to have asked someone, most likely Dumbledore, why the hell he had a glamour on he decided that maintaining his secret was far more important. Harry guessed it wasn't a mystery any more.

About a year ago that spider's web had gotten easier to pass through, beginning slowly to disappear from some places. He took to having to hold the image of himself, as he had always appeared, on himself rather then just appearing that way. About two months ago Harry noticed that even his hair was now free of the glamour, the last place that had seemed to be holding the spell. He hadn't looked; hadn't dropped the appearance he was now holding on himself in order to look, hadn't really wanted to know what he looked like. Not right then. Sirius had just died and somehow looking exactly like his father had seemed very important in the wake of his surrogate father's death.

Now Harry was really very glad he hadn't looked earlier. He really couldn't have handled finding out the truth just after Sirius' death. Finding out that he wasn't really James Potter's son, that he wasn't Padfoot's last link to his dead best friend would have been too much right after his Godfather had died for him. And now, he was far too much in shock about this new situation to be ready to deal with a new look on top of it all. Better, for the time being, to let Dumbledore, Snape and anyone else who knew, think that the glamour just hadn't faded yet.

With these far too happy thoughts about the current state of his psyche in mind, Harry decided it would be best to take a pro-active stance in solving his problems. The method of solution- the universal cure of drinks, drugs and sex. And hey, oh happy days, he just happened to know where a party was going on. With that slightly sarcastic thought Harry forbid himself from thinking any more and headed off toward Alex's house, thanking the fates that Alex's parents had had to go to some conference that week.

With Harry's current motivation it didn't take long to get there. The best fun was always in the back yard so he headed out there, well, the best public fun. It didn't take long to find a dealer in the back yard, there were several milling around, but Harry was particular and only bought from one he knew sold good shit. Deciding that tonight's drug of choice should defiantly be the love drug with a little classic coke for added fun Harry made his purchases. When Harry told Snape that Alex was having a few people over he meant about 60 odd, but it was a fairly large 2 story home with a huge backyard so it was all good.

Seeing Alex across the yard Harry figure he ought to say hi before he forgot so after a tab and 2 bumps he headed over to him. Stealing the bottle of tequila straight out of Alex's hand Harry took a couple of swallows before leaning in to kiss Alex hello. They exchanged pleasantries but Harry's attention was already elsewhere. Harry had never really been into blondes, but that one on the dance floor was too nice to pass up. Excusing himself, and totally missing Alex's smirk, Harry headed toward the dance floor.

The music was blasting out over the makeshift dance floor, playing House music. Checking out the blonde up close he liked what he saw. She was leggy, wearing short black denim shorts and burgundy doc martins. She hade a red satin wife beater on, cut short to show her flat mid-driff, and tight over slightly smallish breasts. Her blonde hair was in a messy pony tale and she wasn't wearing too much make-up. A simple silver necklace lead down under her top.

She saw him checking her out and smirked encouragingly, taking the offer Harry decided to dance with her. They danced for 3/4 of an hour or so, rubbing and groping on the dance floor, before he decided it was time for things to get a little more private. In the mood to take his time, he convinced her to head upstairs with him. Well, convinced in the sense of asking her if she wanted to go up stairs, and getting a positive response. On the way through the lounge toward the stairs Harry grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the bar, he knew that Alex wouldn't mind, and he'd buy him a new one later.

Upstairs Blondie, as he had taken to calling her in his head since he never had gotten around to asking her name, took charge. Before he really knew what was happening he felt himself hit the wall inside the bedroom they had managed to find. The fore play down stairs already had them fair worked up and the lips on his own felt so good, and the fingers fumbling at his belt seemed to know what they were doing. His own hands were busy opening the bottle and when he got the lid off he took a couple of swallows before offering Blondie some, she took a quick swig before setting it on the bed side table.

While she was occupied with that Harry lost his shirt and grabbed her from behind. Pushing her face first into the wall he went to work on her neck, licking, sucking and biting while working her shorts open. With that done he spun her around again, she wasn't one to lose control though obviously as she dragged him around until he felt his back hitting the wall again. She never had gotten his pants open, only his belt, and with new determination she went back to work on the button, hers lips working on his neck and lips all the while.

Shimmying down so she could pull off her own shorts and underwear, and yanking his down at the same time, Harry just managed to grab a condom from his back pocket where he always kept them before his pants hit the ground. She was in front of him again and pulling of her top, revealing a plain red bra. With the ease of experience Harry had the foil package open and the condom on in record time.

Wrapping his arms around her again he was a little surprised, and just plain lucky to catch her, when she jumped up a little wrapping her legs around him. Stumbling he hit the wall and then managed to spin so her back against the wall, providing leverage as he pulled back enough to line up with her entrance. Sliding in smoothly he didn't bother pausing before he was thrusting, short and quick, long and hard, the pattern was erratic. It didn't take long for Blondie to come biting his shoulder and scratching his back. The unexpected pain sent him over and he grunted his own release.

Lowering his head to her shoulder Harry tried to catch his breath. Her arms pushing at his shoulders brought him back to reality and he stepped backward, easing her legs from around his hips so she could stand on the ground. She dragged him over toward the bed and he sat down grabbing the bottle as he did. Sculling about a third of the bottle, Harry passed it to Blondie. She drained a fair bit herself and the now almost empty bottle was handed back to him. Seeing no point in setting back down a bottle with only an inch or so left he finished it off before falling backward on the bed.

He was used to quick fucks, and far from being adverse to them, but it was generally with guys that things got this fast and rough. Girls he found tended to take things a little slower, or at least preferred to reach the bed. Sitting up to ditch the used condom in the bin beside the bed Harry took another bump from his pants pocket, offering Blondie one too. She took a hit and then pushed Harry back on the bed, he guessed it was time for round two.

He figured he was right as he watched her leave about and hour later. She had been in the mood for slow this time and taking her lead he had taken his time. Lying there for a moment Harry let his mind drift, not really thinking. Man he loved these moments, when he could actually stop thinking for a little while. He supposed he should get up, there was bound to be someone who wanted this bedroom and he was hogging it just to lie there and do nothing. He stumbled up and got dressed again, his shirt catching on his new necklace as he did. Catching sight of a clock he saw that it had passed midnight a bit back.

He was walking down the hall, back toward the stairs he had come up earlier when he saw Alex walking toward him with his arm around another guy. He moved aside so they could pass by but Alex stopped and leaned into him, looking him in the eyes for a second before kissing him. Alex always tasted like tequila, and although he knew that Harry generally didn't sleep with the same person more then once, and Alex himself had the same tendency, he could generally convince Harry to put aside that rule. Alex was just far to fun in bed, and he felt the same way about Harry, and they both knew that they were too much alike to ever have to risk it getting complicated.

Pulling apart Harry and Alex stared at each other for a moment before Alex grinned and grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt. Smirking Harry popped a second tab as he let himself be pulled back into the bedroom he had just vacated with Alex and the other guy, who he would later learn and then subsequently forget, was named Chris.

When Harry stumbled downstairs several hours later, leaving Alex and Chris passed out up stairs the party was starting to die down. He considered staying long enough to have another drink and maybe dance some more but, as he stumbled into a wall, he decided that wasn't a good idea. And Damn Alex for always having a bottle of tequila near him. Harry knew tequila messed him up like nothing else but he could never seem to stop himself from drinking it. He notice that it had gone 5 am and decided that since he had to be in London in less then 12 hours he should probably head home.

Walking about a block away Harry ducked into an alleyway and slurred the password to activate his portkey. Appearing in the entrance hall it was all Harry could do not to toss his cookies all over the marble floor, he did fail to keep his balance though and hit the ground with a loud grunt of pain which he couldn't quite make himself care about making. Standing again seemed far too difficult, especially since he would have to climb stairs so instead he crawled toward the stairs. One step at a time he dragged himself up the staircase until using the banister at the top to leaver himself up.

Using the wall to steady himself he stumbled toward his room, hoping he was being quite but, in that somehow self-aware way that drunks have, knowing full well that he was probably making an arse of himself. He managed to turn the doorknob on the third try and used the momentum of falling through the door to fall onto the bed. Obviously having done this before he closed his eyes and used instinct to strip arse naked, crawl under his bedding and passing out. All the while unaware of the ear pressed to a door down the hall, listening to every second, hoping to gage his condition without being obvious.

Severus's POV

Severus had known from the second Harry had left that he wouldn't be able to sleep that night. He knew he'd spend the whole night worrying about his son, but he also knew that he couldn't do anything about it. He had promised the teen just that morning that he could come and go at will, and he couldn't go back on that.

When Cassi had dragged him upstairs at midnight, pointing out that Harry probably wouldn't be home for hours and he needed to at least try to get some sleep he had gone with her, knowing she was right. Tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable with his mind conjuring images of all the things that Harry could be up, with the added help of having witnessed the last party Harry went too, and all the things that could go wrong too, Severus knew he was preventing Cassi from sleeping too. As the hours passed they eventually settled down, lying side by side in the dark, listening for their son to return.

Dozing off and on they both came instantly awake at the sound of a pained grunt from downstairs. Considering whether or not he should head downstairs to check on Harry or keep his word to ignore such stumbling, Severus' decision was made for him as he heard the slow sounds of someone making their way upstairs. The muffled thump as he hit the wall at the top and then the sound of shuffling feet and the sound of the occasional quieter thump as he walked into the wall he was obviously using as a guide reassured Severus as he obviously wasn't so bad as to have forgotten where his room was. He heard the door open and the sound of his son hitting the bed, this was followed by two thuds, which had to be Harry's boots, and the sound of clothes being thrown off, and then he heard no more.

Cassi and Severus looked at each other before both grabbing their robes. Pulling them on hastily they snuck down the hall to Harry's open door and peaked around the corner. There he was, already sleeping, with his clothes thrown beside the bed, safe at home. They could sleep now. Closing Harry's door they headed back to bed, knowing their youngest would have them up in only a few hours, Severus and Cassi aloud sleep to take them, with only the passing thought of 'was his hair blue?' as they both lost awareness.

Be honest people- how many times have we all made it home like this?

Review or I'll tell your mother all about it! R & R!


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks to all those who reviewed!

**Chapter Eight**

'Thanks the Gods they weren't insane enough to try to wake me!' Was the only thought Harry could manage through the pounding headache he had the next morning when he finally hit consciousness. The sun was shining through the drawn curtains and the clock said it was already 11:30 in the morning. With a quick thought he knew that his appearance lost the blue streaks, returning to his typical look.

Stumbling into the bathroom, tripping over last nights clothes on the way, Harry turned on only the cold tap while standing in front of the showerhead. The sudden blast of freezing cold water woke him up enough that he could make it to his first cup of coffee now. Biting back on the string of curses that wanted to come out Harry turned on the hot tap, allowing the temperature of the shower to reach something far more reasonable. Not bothering to take his time this morning but still moving somewhat sluggishly it was a good 7 or 8 minutes before he was through. What would he Australian's think of him for wasting so much water!

Deciding that it was too earlier to dress in whatever he was going to wear that night Harry threw on the same casual jeans as he wore yesterday, this time adding a simple black skin tight T-shirt. It only took a few minutes to dump last night's clothes in the hamper in the bathroom and ensure that the room looked clean. Not bothering to put on shoes he headed down stairs toward the coffee he hoped would be somewhere there.

When he found no one in either the family room or the dining room Harry decided to simply call for Cheni, the only House Elf he had yet to introduce himself too, and asked firstly for coffee and then where everyone was. She appeared with the typical House Elf pop right in front of him, far to full of energy in his non-coffee opinion.

"What can Cheni be doing for Young Master Snape today?" Oh demons in hell he could not deal with that right now… in fact he was pretty sure he would never want that name.

"Umm, _please_ call me Harry. Really. And could I please have some coffee, lots of coffee, straight black please. And where is everyone?"

He had forgotten about the big deal House Elves tended to make about being asked to call wizards by their first names, and his hung over head really wished he hadn't as Cheni squealed in glee. "Oh Master Harry is sooo kind. Such a nice wizard! Cheni will be bringing you coffee right away she will and the family is all outside playing down by the lake."

Heading outside to where Harry had seen the lake yesterday Harry hoped the coffee would arrive soon. He could see them now; Cassi relaxing on a blanket while Snape helped Tainen play with his boats at the waters edge. None of them noticed his approach until Harry stepped up to the side of Cassi's blanket.

"Morning."

The shadow falling across her had been enough warning that she didn't jump at his voice. "Harry, good morning. Would you like to join me?" She indicated a spot beside her on the blanket and Harry gratefully sat, cursing whatever he had done last night to make every single muscle in his body ache this morning.

"Did you have a nice night with your friends last night?"

"Yea, it was great. I haven't seen Alex in a while, and he is a good friend. Oh, and thanks for letting me sleep in this morning."

"Oh, that was no problem. We figured that after the late night you had you probably didn't want to be up first thing. We were going to call you for lunch if you hadn't surfaced by then. We knew you had plans this afternoon."

Cheni popped in just then with Harry's coffee and he thanked her vehemently before practically inhaling the still scalding liquid in the cup. He refilled it quickly and was half way through his second before he looked up long enough to notice Cassi's amusement.

"I can't function without my coffee in the morning. Even when I'm not hung over, I need a serious shot of caffeine." He admitted sheepishly but with a smile.

"Lily was the same. Severus can't abide the stuff, but Lily could never hold a conversation before her first cup." Harry was shocked at this quiet statement.

"You knew my mother?" He couldn't keep the amazement from his voice. He got his coffee addiction from his mother. He wanted more, wanted to know everything. Especially stuff like this, the little quirky tide-bits.

"I knew her, I guess you'd more say we were acquaintances, I only met Lily a few times. But Severus still talks about her sometimes. That's how I know about the coffee thing; Severus mentioned it after how you drank your coffee yesterday."

Harry was amazed. He had been so focused on losing his father, and gaining an awkward situation that he hadn't really thought about the fact that he could gain a mother in this. While he had heard about James over the years, at least felt like he knew him a bit, he always felt like Lily was a stranger. A shadowy figure he knew existed in the same way he knew Ron had an uncle who was an accountant, existed but couldn't tell you a damn thing about them, existed but weren't real. Snape had been best friends with her, before everything had happened. He must have hundreds, no thousands, of stories. Ignore the fact that he lost James in a sense, Padfoot in an even realer sense (he often felt that maybe Padfoot only loved the link to James that was Harry), the fact that he gained such an awkward and uncomfortable situation; maybe he could finally gain a mother!

He knew he had been quiet a long time while he contemplated this but he didn't care, figured she probably understood. But now wasn't the time for that. Let's build up a little to such conversations.

"So, what have you guys been up to this morning?"

"Well after breakfast Tainen decided that he wanted to come feed the ducks. After that we played with his ball for a while and then he decided that his daddy should help him play with his new boat that Severus got him the other day." She didn't mention that Severus got him the boat after having had to be away for a few days brewing for the Dark Lord, didn't think this was the time for that talk either.

"Well, it has been an eventful morning then hasn't it."

Finishing his second cup and starting on a third, Cassi and Harry chatted about random things, just filling time and trying to get comfortable with each other.

Severus had eventually noticed Harry's presence out the corner of his eye but decided not to say anything, afraid to make the teen uncomfortable when Cassi seemed to be making some progress with him. Instead he played with Tainen, content that his whole family were together and enjoying each other's lazy company on this summer day.

An Elf Harry hadn't met but Cassi told him was named Kia announced lunch at 1 o'clock and they all headed back up to the patio where they had had lunched yesterday. Today they had pasta salad with bbq ribs, while Tainen had a ham sandwich with his pasta salad.

Greeting his son for the first time that day Severus and Harry took advantage of the calm setting, opting to focus on their surrounding instead of each other, keeping chit-chat calm and non-personal seemed to help and they managed to avoid making each other tense until the leisurely hour long lunch was done. Cassi had started to play patty cake with Tainen, quietly bowing mostly out of the conversation, hoping her husband and stepson wouldn't notice and would manage to continue their almost friendly chat.

It seemed to work, even surviving when the conversation got slightly more personal, asking Harry what time he was heading off. But when Severus asked whom Harry was going with, Harry tensed. She didn't know what about the question set Harry on edge, maybe it was just the parental nature of the question, but whatever it was Harry was tense when he answered.

"Umm… just some friends from the wizarding world" Cassi figured she should jump in before anything could happen that would undo the progress of the past hour.

"Oh do a lot of young wizards and witches listen to muggle bands these days? When I was at school the music seemed to remain pretty separate but I'm sure you said that you were going to see a muggle band." She was afraid it may have come out a bit rushed but she had got it in there. A nice question about cultural differences, how personal or touchy could that be?

Or so she thought. Until she could have sworn she saw what was maybe the beginnings of a blush in her stepson's cheeks. He seemed a little unsure and confused when he answered. "No, they're still pretty separate. My friends know that Linkin Park are my favorite and one of them remembered that they were touring so he got us tickets. But none of them really like the music."

"Well isn't that so nice. Going to see your favorite band with you for your birthday even if they don't really like them!"

Cassi could tell there was more to the story. Like maybe that question about whom he was going with hadn't caused him to tense earlier because it was parental but because it was a present from a 'special' boy (if the 'he' was anything to go by).

"So, are a lot of you going? Like a big birthday party type of thing or just a close circle of friends having a nice night out to celebrate your 16th?" She kept the question about the celebration, trying hard to avoid making it sound like she was questioning his plans.

"Umm, just 4 of us. So a close circle thing I guess." Oh he really didn't want to answer these questions and Cassi was more sure then ever of the reason. One of those other three was something special, and it was probably the person who remembered that it was his favorite bad, the one who got them all tickets. Maybe it was a non-date. Taking two other friends along but still a date. Or maybe it was a double date. That would work, she knew that Harry had 2 best friends who Severus assured her were made for each other. Maybe it was his best friends, him and his mystery person.

But she knew she couldn't ask. And hey, she supposed maybe she was wrong. Severus had seen him with several other people, and Harry didn't seem like the mass cheating type, everybody was allowed one slip, but serial cheating was so wrong.

Harry excused himself, pointing out that it was now after 2 o'clock and he needed to meet his friends at 3pm in London, a good 35 minutes by taxi from where the portkey would drop him.

Harry ran upstairs and in only 15 minutes had thrown clothes for the concert in his bag, to change into at the hotel where they were due to meet, and a set of casual clothes for tomorrow. Deciding to morph off his tattoos when he got to the park he decided that he'd just wear what he had on till when they got ready later. Throwing on his fav. boots, he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed down stairs to say a quick good bye to everyone.

They were still out back and he ducked out there, and Tainen decided to take a run at his legs again. Saying goodbye and reminding them that he wouldn't be home until lunch tomorrow, he tickled Tainen with one hand. They told him that they hoped he had a good night, and Tainen started to pout, wanting Harry to stay and play with him. Deciding that he didn't know how best to deal with that, Harry quickly hugged Tainen, told him that they'd play tomorrow and stepped away from Tainen to activate the portkey.

Please R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you so much for the reviews!

Warning: Slash… lotta slash!

**Chapter Nine**

Arriving in the park Harry made all his tattoos disappear with barely a thought as he headed to the public phone on the corner. Luckily the taxi service said there was a taxi nearby, he wouldn't have to wait more then 10 minutes. He would probably still be late but there was little he could do about that right now. Sitting down to wait Harry didn't bother trying to figure out some way to tell his friends everything that had happened in the past 2 days with Snape. He knew no script would work in this situation.

The taxi was early, only taking about 5 minutes. If his luck held and they beat traffic he might still be on time. He knew he was nervous when he struck up a babbling conversation with the driver. Did you know the guy had come to this country 8 years before, and drove taxi's during the day and on weekends while putting himself through night-school and supporting his little sister?

They agreed that the local football team (A/N: I so wanted to call it soccer) had done appallingly that year, like Harry knew, and that the Prime Minister was an absolute wanker. Through all this Harry managed not to notice that traffic was fairly reasonable today and they pulled up outside the hotel at only 2 minutes past 3pm. He could simply say traffic sucked and it would be entirely believable. Paying the driver, and realizing that he really ought to head to Diagon Alley and draw out some more cash, converted to British pounds of course, soon, preferably tomorrow since he was in London anyway Harry headed inside.

Hermione was already there, her nose buried in a book as she waited near reception for the others to show up. When she saw him she jumped up and hugged him, wishing him a happy birthday before asking him with a very serious face whether he was okay or not. He assured her that he was fine, would be fine anyway, and that he just really needed to talk to them, begging off at the worried look on her face Harry said he didn't want to have to go over it several times.

Charlie and Ron arrived shortly after, smiling and wishing him and happy birthday. Charlie pecked him quickly on the lips in hello before they headed over to the counter to check in. They had agreed to split the bill for the suite four ways, although everyone knew Charlie would probably be paying Ron's share. Sign in was the typical pain in the arse that Hermione, the only one who had stayed in a muggle hotel before, assured them it always was, and they then headed to the elevator. Ron commenting on stupid, odd muggle contraptions all the way while Charlie went with the flow.

When they got to their suite they quickly dumped things in their rooms. Charlie and Harry would be sharing; it was no secret among the 4 of them that Harry had a bit of a wild side and that that side often included Charlie. Hermione would have the other room and Ron got the fold out couch. With that sorted out they all sat down in the lounge room, Charlie and Ron on the couch and Hermione in one of the two armchairs provided. Harry decided that telling this story and sitting still were mutually exclusive and so he paced in front of the lounge set.

"Okay, so, I'm going to go chronologically for myself, maybe not chronologically for the story. No interrupting 'till the end. 2 nights ago I was at this party and suddenly Snape shows up out of nowhere right in front of me. So I'm thinking that Tommy must have done something right? But he tells me no, that he's there to find out what I'm doing at a brothel like this place. Anyway we argue and I basically tell him to fuck off and he tells me that no son of his will act in such a manner." He knows he's talking to fast, but his friends still catch it too because he can hear the gasps.

"Now, I may have been thoroughly immersed in a little stress release but I sure as shit caught that comment. Incidentally I now know what people mean when they panic. I mean really panic, can't breath, oh gods help me, sort of panic. Tommy boy? Oh no, him I can handle! Having Snape pull that shit out on me? Well I couldn't actually seem to breath, so I passed out. I guess he took me home or something cause I wake up the next morning in a bedroom and when I find the occupants of the house you'll never believe it. Snape and his family! A wife and the cutest little boy you'd ever see. And so he's all 'join us for breakfast' and I figure sure, I'm seeing a complete lack of options, breakfast it is!"

He's gasping for breath now as he's telling it but he has to get through it "So I sit down but try to find a way out of it, tell him that my relatives will be worried cause I've been gone all night and he's all friendly and tells me we'll discuss it later. So, Cassi, his wife, strikes up a conversation over breakfast and I somehow hold up my end despite wanting to stab myself with my fork to make sure I'm awake and not in some bizarre nightmare. But no, reality. Of course reality, something this fucked up could only be my reality."

"So after dinner Cassi takes Tainen upstairs and leaves Snape and I to chat, he lays it all down for me. How he and mum were best friends at Hogwarts, how they dated until the start of 7th year. How about 2 months before mum married dad, James, gah, whoever the fuck he was, she got cold feet. Went to visit the guy who had been her first love. Things got out of control. Turns out she got knocked up, told James the whole story so at least when he choose to die for me he knew that I wasn't really his by blood. They decided to raise me as their own, cause Snape was a death eater. Put a glamour on me to make me look like James and told no one."

"Only they left a time delayed letter, Dumbledore got it about 6 months ago and still didn't tell me! Kept even more secrets about my life from me that weren't his to keep! That BASTARD! Dumbledore was supposed to tell Snape when I turned 15, so I can't rally hold it against him, he come looking for me the day he found out. Guess he even did right by me in not trying to sugar coat it, just told me the facts."

"Anyway, he asked me to come stay with them. I ain't ever been a son and don't really know how to be or that I want to be but a big brother! Something about that, when he said it, I just couldn't help it, I wanted it. So I agreed to keep contact, but figured staying wouldn't be a good idea. But Snape, he told me I could come and go as I please at all hours, that he'd make me a portkey so I had total freedom between Little Whinging and his place. So I said yes, and moved in yesterday. And he even went out and got me a birthday present, this really cool necklace which is charmed to be the portkey. And maybe I was testing them a bit when I went out last night. That and I really wanted to go to that party but still, and they were cool about it."

Harry seemed to run out of steam, and they were all gaping at him like fish. He flopped into the spare armchair and waited for the coming explosion…

He didn't have to wait long. Hermione was out of her chair and hugging him, practically in tears at this new 'issue' in his life. Ron had exploded from his seat ranting about the evilness of Snape versus the fact that he had seemed to be okay in the story, so far, and cursing Dumbledore for keeping this from him. Harry had eventually told them about the prophecy, so they knew everything else, well except about his last defense and he guessed he'd have to tell them that too if they were going to help him find a way to keep it from Snape and Dumbledore, whom he really didn't want to know.

Charlie just sat there until after Hermoine was done before hugging Harry too. He didn't let him go though, instead he slid around behind Harry so he was holding him against him and Harry would never admit how good that felt just then, how reassuring. Now that the main burst of energy, frustration and desperation was over, now that it wasn't his burden alone anymore, they were able to calm down and examine everything Harry knew. They talked about the pros and cons of having Snape in his life. He could learn about his mother, have a family, have a real home to go to. But at the same time there was the threat of Tommy, made even more real by Snape's position as a spy, there was his unease at being a son, and there was the fact that he way the new guy in a pre-made family with their own little world, he was the outsider. But they all really liked his necklace.

They discussed Dumbledore's latest betrayal and that brought up the question about whether or not he still fit the prophecy now that James wasn't his father. When they started discussing what they were going to do when his glamour did finally fall he decided that it was time to give up his last secret to these people, well at least Ron and Hermione, he still had a few others from Charlie.

To say they were shocked would be an understatement, and they were maybe a little hurt too, but knowing how cautious Harry was they could understand his reasoning of wanting one last, absolutely secret defense. He explained about the spider's web, and how he had found out what it meant, how the glamour had actually dropped entirely and he was maintaining the morph completely on his own. As proof he showed them his tattoos which he had never before been able to show any of them. Their reactions amused him no end. Charlie's eyes darkened in that way he knew meant Charlie wanted him, preferably right now, Ron was in awe, Harry had just become the coolest person he had ever met, and Hermione just took it in stride, supposing there wasn't much she could say about them now.

When they asked him to drop the morph and show them what he looked like he told them that he had never done that, that not even he knew what he really looked like and he didn't want to know tonight. Hermione said she'd get on it right away. That she was sure they could come up with something. Harry hugged her in thanks and then changed the conversation, deciding things had been too deep for too long.

The others went with it and they chatted about what the others had been up to since school let out and how the Dragon Tamer life was suiting Charlie. Norbert was apparently doing fine, as was Harry's favorite Hungarian Horntail who had recently recovered from the Draconian version of the flu. It wasn't long before Hermione pointed out that they all better change if they were gonna go eat before the concert.

Headed to their respective rooms, with Ron joining Harry and Charlie in theirs, they all got changed. Harry was wearing black leather pants with a simple white skin-tight wife beater bearing random slash marks; he decided to leave his tattoos showing. Charlie wore tight black faded jeans and a blue wife beater the same shade as his eyes, just for Harry who he knew loved his eyes, and his dragon-hide boots. The fact that Charlie had obviously helped Ron decide what to wear was obvious as he pulled on jeans that were tighter then he ever would have normally worn and one of Charlie's T-shirt which had been shrunk for the occasion. It read "My body is a temple" across the front and "worship me" on the back.

When they met Hermione back I the main room she was wearing a denim skirt which rested about 2 inches above the knees and a Chinese print red satin singlet top with calf high simple black boots. Approving each of the boy's outfits they decided to head out, leaving the key at reception so they wouldn't lose it. Dinner was at a simple low-key restaurant nearby where, with the help of magically fake Id's, the bear and wine flowed freely.

After desert they headed to the stadium where the concert was being held. They didn't have to wait long before the support band came on stage. They were okay, but nothing to write home about, and Harry couldn't even remember their name later. Then Linkin Park came on. They did 2 sets, and played 3 encores, playing a little bit of their older stuff as well as the newer stuff. Harry sung along to them all. Dancing and smiling and sometimes just watching, his eyes pinned to the stage, watching them perform. The other enjoyed themselves too. Although none of them liked the music they did enjoy the atmosphere but more importantly they enjoyed Harry pleasure. His life was always so fucked up, and this new 'you're daddy ain't your daddy' thing was just one more fucked up piece of the pie!

Something about Harry when he sang along to some of the songs caught their attention. His face when he sang Numb left all three of them breathless. But like all concerts, well all good concerts anyway, it was over far too soon. And the four of them headed through the crush of the crowds toward a near-by blues bar. Harry had chosen it specifically, thought he'd given the poor sheltered wizards a sample of two very different muggle musical styles. They grabbed a table and drank beer while listening to the music and talking about both the earlier concert ad the band now playing.

It wasn't much later, a little after 12, when they headed back to the hotel. Saying good night they each headed toward their own rooms, Ron and Hermoine to sleep and Harry to properly thank Charlie for the great birthday present. It was never like it was with anyone else when he was with Charlie. Something about Charlie heated him up and cooled him down all at the same time, created a slow burn that could last for hours as they had every kind of sex imaginable.

Tonight Harry wanted the slow kind. The kind where you had been going for hours and still hadn't made it to the main event yet. The kind that left you so exhausted you never thought you'd move again, and at the same time so sated that your eyes just kinda role of their own free will in their sockets behind your closed eyelids.

Losing their shoes and socks they fell into bed, kissing slowly, softly, building the fire. Hands began to explore skin that they knew almost as well as their own, but it still seemed new every time. Harry kissed every inch of Charlie's face, learning it all over again with his mouth before they pulled apart long enough to divest each other of their shirts. A whole new play ground opened to their mouths and hands, and Charlie wasted no time in exploring his, pushing Harry backward so he was flat on the bed then leaning over him so he could trail his tongue from Harry mouth to first one nipple to bite, lick and tease, before kissing a blazing trail to the other and repeating the same action.

Pulling him up for a kiss, Harry's hands went to work on Charlie's pants, having them undone in short order. Shimmying out of the skin-tight material was gonna take some work and Charlie had to stand to achieve it, dragging Harry with him, knowing that there was no other way that he was getting Harry out of those pants. They fell back onto the bed, laughing about the stupidity of fashion that they would have to leave the bed to strip. They returned to their explorations of each others body's, taking their time, worshipping every inch of each others skin, the different textures of different areas, the smells and tastes of the most intimate areas, the feel of the others skin burning against their own.

It was Harry who lost control first; reaching for the lube and condom he knew he had thrown on the bedside table earlier he pushed up Charlie's legs, preparing him easily and then putting on the condom. Sliding smoothly home, to a place he refused to acknowledge was his home. And Charlie was right there with him now, losing control, half wanting to speed things up but half wanting to prolong the beautiful agony of the knifes edge. Slowly at first, they moved together. It was Charlie in the end who broke first, speedy things up, forcing the rhythm into something closer to his hurried heart beat. It didn't take long at the new pace before he was falling over the edge and dragging Harry down with him.

They lay there, still holding each other, panting, and never wanting to move again. Charlie slipped into a peaceful slumber, his breathing evening out. But Harry could not sleep. He had one more thing to do tonight and he had to do it alone. He tied of the condom, dumping it in the bin near the dresser, on his way to the bathroom. He closed the door quietly, wanting no witnesses to what he was about to do, then he turned on the light.

He had never let the image in the back of his mind go before; it was honestly hard for him to remove the morph from himself after so many years of living with it constantly there. But after a few minutes he did it, the little corner of his mind he figured must hold his metamorph ability was empty for the first time ever. And he still hadn't opened his eyes. Taking a deep breath and standing in front of the mirror, he let his eyes open, and then felt them widen. Man it was weird to look at yourself and see a stranger, but a familiar stranger.

He still had his mother's eyes. His nose with a little thinner though, his cheek bones more defined. His hair was no longer the potter mess but silky and flat, too flat, black with obvious red highlights. He had grown a bit too. Whereas before he had only been about 5'6" or so now he was probably about 5'9" or maybe 5'10". His bones seemed to have thinned a bit too, somehow making him appear more delicate despite his Quidditch muscles. He could defiantly see Snape in some of his features. And while his hair wasn't 'greasy' the flatness did make it seem to just hang there. He seriously needed product to make it spike or something. His lips were a little thinner too but still his mother's red, instead of Snape's chewed out color.

All up, Harry decided, it wasn't that bad. He didn't look too much like the man, although you could see it if you were looking for it. But now there was more of Lily there too, and Harry really didn't mind looking more like his mom. Calling back up the image of 'Harry Potter' Harry morphed back and headed off to bed, Charlie's arms helping to protect him from the worst of the nightmares that night.

The next morning as he showered Harry decided there were probably worse things then waking up in bed with Charlie Weasley. Especially when Charlie had such an amazing mouth which he put to such good use, blowing Harry's brains out before he was even really awake, then kissing him quickly and telling him, as he left the room, that he'd order breakfast for him. Harry showered quickly, more awake then usual before his morning coffee, thanks to a good nights sleep, they'd fallen asleep around three and it was a little after 11 now, and a great wake-up call.

The other two were awake as well when Harry made it out of his room. Having packed his bag, he added it to the other three already by the door. Breakfast turned out to be a full English breakfast, with plenty of coffee. While they ate Harry told the other's what he had come up with last night.

"I was thinking. What if we say that the glamour fell last night, that I woke up this morning looking Snape-like and so one of you taught me a new glamour that I have to re-cast each morning or something. That way they never have to really know what happened, they can't prove it. Assuming of course that anybody knows just such a glamour spell?"

The others figured that this idea would probably work, and if Snape or someone insisted on seeing him without his 'glamour' he would have the night alone to drop the morph, because it didn't look like an ending spell. Charlie knew a glamour spell that would work, and after teaching Harry to cast it, just incase anyone asked, Hermoine finally got the balls to ask the question they were all wondering.

"So Harry, do you know what you look like yet?"

"I'm only ever going to do this once, so don't ever expect it again, okay?" Getting nods all around Harry dropped the morph, allowing other people to see the real him for the first time since his parents cast the glamour on his infant self.

The general response was "Wow." Apparently he looked hot like that. With an eye role he recast his morph and told the others to hurry, he really needed to stop by Gringotts to restock his cash supplies before he headed back to Snape's.

They all finished breakfast and checked-out just before the 12:30 late checkout time. Catching the underground to the stop two streets away from the Leaky Cauldron, the 4 of them made their way to the muggle entrance to the wizarding world. They all greeted Tom as they headed through his pub, walking quickly to Gringotts Harry went to deal with the Goblins with the others waited. Heading down to his vault and then changing the money into pounds Harry left Gringotts with his bag a fair bit fuller.

Harry parted ways with the other 3 outside Gringotts, Hermione would be going to the Weasley's for a few days. As they were in public Harry merely shook hands good-bye with Ron and Charlie and gave Hermoine a quick hug before he activated his portkey.

Please R&R


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks to all those who reviewed, appreciate it as always!

Wow, I'm so excited, this chapter equals double figures! Who knew when I randomly started writing this that it would still be flowing so readily! Oh, I am back at uni as of tomorrow though and so updates may become sporadic as the workload picks up, but they will definitely still come, just maybe not with the regularity they have so far!

**Chapter Ten**

Harry's portkey dropped him in the entrance hall at 10 minutes past 1. He had told Snape and Co that he would back in time for lunch, and he knew that they lunched at 1 o'clock; they had merely held lunch for him that first day. Harry didn't even bother to drop off his bag upstairs before heading to the back deck where he hoped the others were. He was in luck, they looked like they had just sat down to lunch, Cassi was only just beginning to fill Tainen's plate.

She looked up and saw him walking toward them. "Harry, you made it! We were just about to have lunch, we didn't know if we should hold it for you of what." She seemed relieved that he was back, something Harry didn't particularly understand, but he went with it.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. I had to run an errand while I was in London and that took a little longer then I thought it would." Pulling a funny face at Tainen that made him giggle crazily, Harry sat down and tucked into what appeared to be BLT on toasted bread-roll today.

"So, how was the concert? Was it the best birthday party type thing ever or what?"

"Well since I've never actually had a birthday party before it was brilliant. We talked for a while after we met up, discussed current points of contention etc. and then we went out to dinner at this nice little restaurant, then onto the concert. 2 sets and 3 encores! And they played new and old stuff. Then we headed over to a little blues bar so I could show them two totally different types of muggle music in one night. We headed back to the hotel fairly early and were asleep around 3 or so. Didn't wake up till a little after 11 so I feel great! And then after breakfast we headed out to Diagon Alley so I could run an errand and went our separate ways!"

Harry knew he was volunteering information, which went against his general policy in life but he figured it was nothing too note worthy, and he was really starting to think maybe he and Cassi could at least be, well not friends but, close acquaintances.

"Sounds fantastic! What were you doing down on Diagon? It's not time to pick up the new school things already is it? Seems far to soon."

"Oh no, haven't even gotten my results yet so I don't even know what I'll be taking. I was starting to run low on cash so I stopped by Gringotts, relieved the Goblins of some of my gold, changed it into pounds and I am set for the muggle world again."

Cassi wanted to say something like he should have just asked for some spending money or something but she knew he would see that as crossing a line. He was so blasted independent, not even needing a parental unit for money, she knew he had lived in a hotel before 3rd year so he could live alone, and she didn't doubt he knew how to feed himself too, be it take-out or actually cooking. He was an adult at 15, and despite the fact that half the time she didn't really know what to do about suddenly inheriting a full-grown 'son', or if she even liked the idea, she wished he needed them, or at the very least would unpack his gods forsaken trunk instead of making his room look and feel like a guest room.

"So, what did everyone else do after I left yesterday?" And the rest of lunch was filled with random chatter about inconsequential things. After everyone had finished eating but before the talk had a chance to focus on plans for the rest of the day Harry turned to Snape, looking unsure and like he really didn't want to have to do this. "I was wondering if you had a little bit of time this afternoon at some point so we could talk? Yesterday gave me the opportunity to break everything down with my friends and I have some questions…"

Snape looked surprised for a moment before he managed to get it under control. He knew Harry knew better then to be spouting the information concerning his paternity to random people, so he must trust these 3 people implicitly. Snape assumed 2 of them were the other parts of the Golden Trio but he couldn't for the life of him guess who else Harry was that close too. The papers hadn't said anything. And his son had just asked to talk with him, granted it was to gain information about events very much concerning him but still, for the first time ever his son was voluntarily seeking him out to talk. He agreed readily, saying he had nothing planned right then if now was a good time. Cassi sent them off with a soft smile and assurances that she and Tainen would be fine without them for a while.

They headed inside and Snape lead Harry to a room he had never been in before. It was a study, with dark wood furniture and deep green leather chairs, matching the deep green carpet. Like most rooms in the manor is seemed to be designed so at least one wall was on the outside of the house, and that wall was floor to ceiling glass panels with a glass door set into it. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with books on subjects Harry wasn't prepared to hazard a guess at. Snape indicated the sofa set in one corner of the room and then took the armchair facing it.

With a small smile Snape made it clear Harry had the floor. Deciding to dive right in Harry asked his first question. It was by no means the most important but he figured they could build up to that one.

"It is a well established fact that you were a Death Eater, I also know that you now work as a spy for Dumbledore. You have said that you believed in the cause when you join after Hogwarts. What happened? When did your allegiances, as it were, change?"

Snape was actually surprised Harry hadn't asked this earlier. He always assumed that he would eventually have to answer these questions. "It was after your mother came to see me. After she left that day I got to thinking, I knew we were over, that if I ever saw her again we would at best be acquaintances, but probably not even that because of the war. I started to think about what the war had cost me. It wasn't just losing your mother, when I signed up it was for a political cause that had become militant to achieve it's aims. I'm not sure any of us really knew what he was like. I mean, well, you know what he's like, tortures his followers just as much as his enemies, takes sadistic pleasure in killing the most non-threatening muggles. Muggle children tortured and killed because they lack magic."

"She was right all along, you know, after she left I got to thinking about all that he was, thinking about every point of argument your mother used when she was trying to convince me the Dark Lord was wrong. And I realized she was right. That she wasn't the single exception to the rule, she was the rule."

"I went to Dumbledore, and well you know what came of that. During the first war no one knew who Dumbledore's spy was. The stupid, bloody tragedy of all of this is that by the time you were born, by the time they hid you from me in order to protect you I wasn't a threat. But they had no way of knowing that, and I had no way of knowing that I needed them to know."

Harry just nodded, it sucked but he was used to that in life, there was no one he could really rage at over it, no one he could blame. A series of unfortunate events as it were. He really only needed one more thing he guessed, the most important piece of information out there.

"After last year I doubt there is any player in this whole thing who hasn't heard of the prophecy. What do you know about it?"

"I know that it isn't something you need to be concerning yourself with." Snape assured Harry, with raised eyebrows that suggested he thought Harry was a child sticking his nose in where it wasn't his business.

"So you know no more then most people. That's okay; I can still work with that. Did you ever wonder why dear Tommy Boy went after my parents? Why even after they were dead he tried to kill me? And even now, years later, he still hasn't quite managed to get over it?"

Snape was somewhat surprised when Harry implied that it was he who was out of the loop and not the other way around but he went with it. He wasn't sure if Harry was looking for an answer but he felt he needed to give one anyway. Even though, from what Harry was implying, he was going to answer wrongly.

"I assumed like most people that it was because James and Lily were such powerful light supporters. And the subsequent attacks were personal because you defeated him as a baby."

"Most people do. But no, when Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow that night it was with the intention of killing me. My parents knew that he was coming for me, that's why they went into hiding. When he came, James told my mum to take me and run while he stayed to fight him. But he died for us, for me, before she had a chance to get me out. Voldemort even told my mum that he would let her live if she handed me over, but she refused, actually she begged. Not for her own life, but for mine. 'Take me, kill me instead.' He told her she was a silly girl and then she died screaming. And then everyone knows what happens next, with nothing else between him and me he turned the killing curse on me, etcetera etcetera."

Snape was shocked. Did Harry really remember that night? He was recounting the events as if he knew them either first hand or from someone who had been there, that meant either he remembered or the Dark Lord had told him about it, and couldn't see the Dark Lord doing something like that, maybe the 'died screaming' part but telling him the rest? Not likely. He was too shocked to speak, luckily Harry didn't seem to need a response to his little revelation.

"You see, shortly before my birth there was a prophecy made. 2 lines of that prophecy are fairly well known, Tommy already knows them so it's nothing for me to tell you now. They reveal two of the identifying factors of the prophesized child. The other factors and the prophecy itself are reported to have been lost at the DoM, but that is neither here nor there. The two lines state that a child with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born at the end of July, to parents who have defied the man 3 times."

"There were two children born then, who fit the second criteria as well. Tom always assumed it was me, and since he never received the rest of the prophecy well, lets not get into all that. The point it, that if James wasn't my father, do I still fit one of the two most basic requirements of the prophecy that has controlled my life since before I was born? The one that has already set out the events of my life, and gods all hate me, but my death as well, or well, I _might_ survive, but smart money says not in my opinion?"

Severus was beyond shocked. A state he figured he really should be getting familiar with since he found out he had another son. His son's life and DEATH was prophesized, well, gee, he might live? He really needed to know more about this, needed answers now.

"WHAT?" okay, maybe not the best way to ask but the word seemed to explode from his mouth before he had a chance to figure out how to phrase it better.

"Like I said, stupid little prophecy, the details are a) not important and b) maybe not the best thing to be randomly giving out. But, lets try to focus here please sir; this is my future we're chatting about. At the time of my birth, think carefully, could you have been classified as having 'thrice defied' Voldemort?"

Severus knew he wouldn't get an answer, not today, he hadn't gained his son's trust enough for such secrets. So instead he did as he was asked. Thinking back, trying to recall the months between Lily's visit and Harry's birth he tried to decide if he could be classified as having defied the Dark Lord 3 times. Firstly he went to Dumbledore, agreeing to spy. Secondly, just after that, there was a raid which Severus had helped turn into an ambush against the Dark Lord, and then there was the potion he had made wrong, killing the victims quickly instead of giving them a slow lingering death while they talked under the effects of a truth serum. Three times, he had defied him three times. Oh Circe, help his son.

"Yes, Harry. At the time of your birth I had defied him 3 times." He watched as his son seemed to deflate momentarily, fall in on himself and close his eyes in what looked like agony. It only lasted a moment though before Harry took a deep breath, opened his eyes and nodded.

"So, my destiny is still on track then. Well, I never was one to believe in serendipity. Thank-you for answering my questions sir, I'm gonna head upstairs and unpack now." Harry left through the same door they entered through, not even noticing his father's eyes following him, or the fact that Severus could not seem to move beyond that.

Cassi found her husband there almost three hours later, still sitting in the same position. She held him for about 15minutes before reminding him that the kids would be waiting dinner for them. It wasn't until later that night that he had a chance to tell her all he had learned. And it really didn't surprise him when she cried just as much as he did over their son's fate.

Please R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks to those who reviewed!

Also, a reviewer pointed out to me that Harry would have turned 16 the year following OotP, so I have changed the story accordingly! I have no idea how I made that mistake, and how no one caught it before chapter 9 but oh well, it's fixed now.

Three days in to the first week back at Uni, and boy is it sucking!

**Chapter Eleven**

4 days after the concert Harry woke up in time to join the family for breakfast. The past few days couldn't particularly be called uneventful but they certainly could be called typical of the lives of the people currently residing in Snape Manor. Harry went out only one of the three nights, and spent the rest of the time alternating between listening to music, considering a new Tattoo design, catching up on sleep using his little known stash of sleeping potions and playing with Tainen. He just couldn't really be stuffed doing much, sometimes holidays should mean just that.

2 days before, Snape had been called. Harry had found it rather anti-climatic. Dinner had just ended and Harry noticed Snape grit his teeth slightly while twisting his arm to press it flat into the table. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it meant, so he really wasn't too surprised when Snape excused himself and Cassi offered he and Tainen some lame excuse about Snape having forgotten to mention he had to brew a potion that night.

The next morning Snape was back at breakfast, not looking particularly the worse for ware despite the fact that Harry knew Voldemort had tortured him for not getting enough intel from Dumbledore, and then he had been ordered to make some potion Harry hadn't recognized the name of which took half the night. Visions may suck, and give new meaning to pain every time, but at least he learned interesting facts occasionally. No body mentioned a thing about it.

Harry OWL results had also arrived. There were several reasons he felt this sucked. Firstly, he wasn't sure he really wanted to know how badly he screwed up on his exams, secondly, he knew that Snape and Cassi were gonna be all about wanting to know, like it was their business or something, and thirdly, he just really hated reminders during the summer holidays of the other life he lead during the year, it always put a real downer on him.

He had calmly set the letter aside and went back to eating his fruit salad with extra crispy bacon on the side, determined to ignore the slightly desperate glances Snape and Cassi kept throwing his way. Harry was used to being watched but he still really hated being watched when eating, he was actually surprised he hadn't developed some form of eating disorder from being stared at so often during meals, and no, eating smallish portions wasn't a disorder he'll thank you very much to recall. After breakfast he had taken the letter upstairs, dumped it in his trunk and deliberately forgotten about it

Today was a new day though and Harry had plans. He was going to head into London after lunch and add to his collection of tattoos, and then tonight he was heading to a club he knew called Pure. A cute name for a club that was anything but. Showering quickly and headed down stairs dressed for a new day Harry was in an oddly good mood, a natural high which he rarely experienced.

Which just goes to reinforce his theory that he is fate's bitch. Snape and Co were in the lounge room, as breakfast wouldn't be served for another 15 minutes, and Harry was at the top of the stairs about to descend, when the fire flared green. Stepping through like he owned the place was none other then Draco Malfoy.

"Dwaco!" Tainen seemed happy to see him even if Severus and Cassi were quietly panicking. How were they going to prevent Draco and Harry from seeing each other? There was no way that they could warn him without it looking suspicious, and they couldn't just ask Draco to leave, he had always been welcome there. Careless, they had been so careless.

"Hey Tainen. How are you? What have you been doing?" Draco asked as he swung Tainen up into his arms, merely nodding hello with a smile, allowing the little boy to keep his undivided attention.

"I been pwayen wif H!" Cassi and Sev could only thank Merlin that Tainen had heard Harry muttering to himself, he always tended to call himself HJ when talking to himself, and refused to call his brother anything else since. ((I been playing with H))

"H?" Draco asked, expecting a new teddy bear or something equally thrilling to a little boy. Therefore the new voice coming from the stairs, damn near giving him a heart attack, was unexpected.

"Yes, H. Tai insists on calling me that, always has. Hello, I'm Alexander. And you are?" Harry figured he was already headed downstairs, and it would be really inconvenient if Draco discovered his presence in some other way. Better to control the situation from the beginning. To that end he dropped his morph, allowing himself to look like a mix between Severus and Lily, he figured Draco would only see Snape and never suspect the red highlights and green eyes came from Lily Evens Potter. A new name, the first thing that flew out of his mouth, and he was a whole new person.

Severus couldn't seem to breath. The glamour had finally dropped and he now knew what his son looked like. A beautiful mix of his and Lily's features, and there was no mistaking who he belonged to. Cassi was just glad that the dropping of the glamour had happened at such a fortuitist moment. But had no idea what game Harry was playing, or how he was going to explain all this.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" Harry tried very hard not to laugh, did the boy always introduce himself that way?

"Pleasure, I'm sure. Draco Malfoy? Ah yes, I believe my dear father may have mentioned you at some point." Harry couldn't help the slight sneer that appeared on his lips, but he figured he could swing it as a part of the current character he was playing.

"Your father?"

With an eye role Harry explained "Well, I can't say it's a surprise that he never mentioned me. We're not exactly close. My mother tended to be of the opinion that I was her child and dear Daddy here merely contributed half the DNA required. But alas, it seems here we all are, it's a bright shinny day, breakfast should be being served right now, and I haven't had any coffee yet this morning; let's eat."

Harry could pull off sarcastic bitch like no ones business when he tried, and Draco was so busy being shocked over discovering that Severus had another son, one his age, that he bought the story straight up. They all headed into the dining room as Tainen, unaware of the problem, continued to inform Draco about his fantastic last few weeks, including H's arrival and the subsequent fun.

Draco seemed to gather himself once they were seated. "So, my Godfather has a son about my age and he never mentioned it?"

It's a good thing Harry didn't lose his grip on a character easily or he would have had serious trouble not glaring incredulously at Snape. Godson! Well no wonder he let Malfoy get away with bloody murder all the time.

"Well, like I said, we aren't close. In fact this summer is the first time I have ever stayed here, normally I never even come to the manor."

"So, who's your mother?"

"I fail to see how that could be any of your business. The Motobon people do not speak the name of their dead." Harry filled his coffee cup for the third time and decided that Severus should put in a little effort for this story too. "I suppose my father may opt to answer some questions about my mother, he never did respect her peoples customs. I guess that is why she made sure I went to live with her relatives after her death instead of letting him take custody. Well, that and political reasons of course."

Harry was giving Severus the beginnings of a story for him to build on when he answered Draco's questions, and also firmly beginning to establish the fact that he was not going to follow in his father's footsteps and join the dark lord.

"You don't go to Hogwarts?" It was a statement, but Draco maybe it seem like a question.

"No. You're quite the inquisitive one aren't you Draco? So what do we all have planned for today? Draco, no one mentioned you were coming today. Are you staying long?" Enough about me, let's talk about you…

"Well, my Godfather has never minded when I dropped in before. I was planning on maybe staying a few days, school goes back soon and I wanted to spend some time with Tainen before that. I really have no specific plans for the day." A cocky smirk accompanied this statement, like he was more welcome at the manor then Snape's own 'son' was, and oh boy did Harry really not care at all.

"Cassi?" Harry asked. This conversation was a little too one-on-one for him.

"Humm? Sorry Alex, what?" She wasn't sure what the question was, she was too busy trying to breath through the heart wrenching fear of Severus' cover being blown by Draco's arrival.

"Your plans for the day, Cass?"

"Oh, I thought Tainen and I might head into the village for the day, do a spot of shopping. Both you and Draco are welcome to join us of course."

"Thanks, but I was going to head into London and get a new tattoo, but you guys have fun without me. What about you daddy dearest?"

"I have a meeting with the Headmaster about the coming semester this morning. You're getting a new tattoo?" Meeting about the coming semester? Harry's perky, shapely arse it was about that. Harry would bet the farm and possibly the old people living on it that it was an Order meeting. And what was with the disapproving look when asking about Harry's plan for a new tattoo? Who the hell did he think he was, his father? Blood don't make a father, and Harry was an orphan.

"Yes, I'm getting a new tattoo." The sneered statement left no doubt that Harry really didn't feel this was particularly Snape's business.

"Well, that's lovely Alex. Do you already have the design picked out?" You really had to love Cassi. She always knew just when to jump in with a question to avoid possible fights.

"I'm going to get a Native American Tribal Labyrinth on the back of my neck, done in earthy tones, I want it about 3 inches in diameter so it'll probably go down onto my back a bit. I thought I'd get it charmed so that it was ever changing, never having the same path. Of course a Native American Labyrinth has no ending, they believe that even after we die our journey continues, that you are never really gone." Harry really hoped he was the only one who noticed the slightly wistful tone of voice at the end there, but he had the feeling Cass and Snape had caught it, even if Malfoy hadn't.

"I'm sure that will look great with your other tattoos. Are you going to do your school shopping while your there?" Bringing up school wasn't actually a good idea. Giving Draco openings to ask questions about areas Harry hadn't already planned a story for, or could create one at the drop of a hat, wasn't a good idea, but Harry knew Cassi had no idea that the question was so ill advised.

"No, I'm just getting the Tattoo and then heading back I think. I have a few things to get done today before I head out tonight." Harry' plans for that evening was a much better topic to distract Malfoy.

"Oh, you're going out tonight? Where? Meeting up with friends for a party, or a concert or something else entirely?"

"Tonight I'm going to one of my favorite clubs. I'll probably run into some friends, it's pretty popular with my friends but there are no plans to meet."

"A club? You're not old enough to get into clubs." Ah, he knew that would distract Malfoy.

"I think you'll find that I rarely let a little thing like age stop me from doing what I want. Well, I seem to be finished breakfast, best be getting ready and heading off. Draco it was lovely to meet you, I'm sure well have quantity time to _bond_ during your visit. Cass, you and Tai have fun. Enjoy your meeting, father mine." With a kiss to Tainen's head Harry was out the door, patting himself on the back for a brilliant performance, and hoping Malfoy didn't decide to visit for too long.

He was ready quickly enough and on his way to London with a hissed password.

A/N: Man, this chapter took forever! It just did now want to come together!

Please R&R!


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks to all those who reviewed! You know I love ya!

Sorry it took so long! But I did warn you all about sporadic updates after Uni went back.

**Chapter Twelve**

Harry decided that it was a smarter decision that day to go shopping as Alex. Everything Harry Potter did was watched so closely, and although he had always managed to buy the silence of the tattoo artists he didn't want to risk word getting back to Malfoy somehow that Harry Potter got an American Indian Labyrinth the same day Snape's son was supposed too. He was forced to admit that it wasn't entirely for outside reasons, a rather large part of himself wanted to know what it was like to walk down a street and not be pointed at or whispered about, this was a rare opportunity, and something he had never dared allowed himself before.

It didn't take long to find a tattoo parlor; this one was just inside Knockturn Alley. Harry knew he couldn't go to his regular artist, they would definitely recognize Harry Potter's tattoos, and be suspicious as to what they were doing on someone else. Harry had been right, walking down a street and not being stared at really was very nice. Almost nice enough to forget the irritation he felt at Snape for dumping him in that mornings situation, just when he had been starting to get comfortable, and at Draco for stopping by all unannounced.

The tattoo didn't take to long to get and afterwards, rather then head back to Snape's, Harry shopped casually, purchasing things he didn't really need but hey, why not? The day passed quickly and Harry opted to headed into muggle London for an all you could eat Pizza Hut lunch. Sometimes, you just had to splurge and be a real pig!

After a long lunch, in which Harry ate more then he probably ever had at one sitting before, Harry began to walk randomly through muggle London. It had just gone 3 and Harry wasn't yet ready to deal with Malfoy again. He was wondering past a rather dingy little bar when he happened to notice the sign outside. In 2 nights they were having a night of classic 80s rock, played by some random cover band.

It had been a few days since he saw Ron and Hermione, and Charlie, and he seemed to be going with a theme of introducing them to muggle music this summer. And he was sure they would _love_ to hear about Malfoy and Snape. With a definite plan in mind, and a rather warm emotion inside that he refused to contemplate the cause of, Harry set off down the street, looking for the nearest motel. He'd book a suite for 2 nights time, then he'd write to them and tell them that he already had it all set up so they had to come. It was for the weekend, Charlie didn't work weekends…

The nearest Motel was nothing special, but it would do. It took a surprisingly long time to set up, and with his wallet a fair bit lighter he decided he really couldn't put it off for much longer. An irritated sneer did nothing to mask the hissed word and the portkey activated. Oh boy, was it just him or did the manor already seem more oppressive then it had since his first day there.

He headed upstairs not bothering to find out where the other residences of this sunlit hell were. Passing one of the doors on the opposite side of the hall between the stairs and his room, Harry noticed it was now occupied. Oh joy, Malfoy must be staying. After stowing his new purchases in his trunk he got out his writing equipment and wrote three letters, telling them that in order to gain the juicy gossip that he had they had to join him for a night of 80s muggle rock music. Sending them off with Hedwig and a request that she wait until the dead of night to sneak back in, Harry packed up and headed downstairs. Dinner would be soon, and he needed to make an appearance as Alex before being called down.

He found the others, minus Snape, out back playing some game which involved a great deal of laughing from what he could tell. Tainen noticed him first and decided that he hadn't tried to knock Harry over yet that day. Luckily the yelled "Hhhhhhhhhh" was enough for Harry to brace himself against the impending attack to his knees.

"Oh Alex, you're back! Mind showing me the new art work?" Harry really had to wonder if Cassi's happy mood and smile were permanently affixed to her in some bizarre fashion. If he were in the muggle world he would have been checking her bathroom cabinet for Percocet, and maybe his bitchy attitude was a little too ingrained because he had to remind himself that he really did actually like his 'father's' wife.

"Sure Cass." He turned around, allowing Cassi and Draco, who was trying badly to feign disinterest, to checkout the new tattoo on the back of his neck.

"So, what else did you get up to today? Did you get your school supplies?" Was it just him or was she really focused on the fucking school supplies! He supposed she just wanted to find out what he was taking next semester or something since they really couldn't ask about the letter he had pointedly not opened in front of them, though they had no way of knowing he hadn't opened it at all.

"No, I prefer to pretend that I'm not enrolled in school until about a week before I go back so I'd rather we dropped that line of conversation" The smile never wavered from his face but it was clear that that conversation was over. "I did do some shopping and then while I was just walking around I saw that a muggle bar near where I was will be having a show in a few days. So I booked a hotel nearby for me and some friends. Figure we should definitely check it out. You know how much I love muggle music."

"You're going to a muggle bar?" And was that awe I heard Draco's voice?

"Yes, I spend a lot of my free time in the muggle world. They have better music, and parties… and clothes."

"I don't think I've ever heard muggle music. Is it very different?" Was Draco trying to be polite? He sounded like he actually wanted to _chat_.

What Harry didn't know was that Draco had always wanted a brother and over the course of the day he had decided that since his Godfather had always been more like a father to him, and he considered Tainen his little brother, having Alex for a brother too sounded like a great idea. If only he could find a way to talk to him without irritating him, as he had managed to do so successfully that morning with every word out of his mouth.

"Yes, it's very different. Maybe I'll let you hear some tomorrow, since I noticed the room down the hall from mine is now occupied, I assume you are staying?" Not bitchy, but not exactly friendly either. May as well try for a tense peace rather than constant fighting. An enemy would draw far too much attention from the annoying one, better to become a just another part of the household in his mind.

"How will you let me hear some? Do you play an instrument?" Harry had never really thought about the fact that wizards didn't have some form of device which allowed one to listen to music at will, without an instrument handy.

"Muggle have devices that allow you to listen to music whenever you want. Actually they a lot of different devices that allow that, depends on the situation for which one you want. I have an IPod upstairs, that allows only one or two people to hear the music. Muggle are ingenious like that." Let's get political!

A House Elf appeared to tell them dinner would be ready soon, and everyone headed inside to wash up beforehand. When they reached the dining room Snape was already there.

Dinner was a fun affair, only you know, in the _not_ sense. Snape spent the time trying to resist the temptation of bitching over his son's newest tattoo, or the fact that he planned to go out that night, or the fact that, based on what Cassi had just said, he was planning on spending the night in the city with friends again the next night.

Harry spent the time juggling the conversations so that Malfoy didn't become curious about inconvenient subjects, ignoring the tension coming from his _father_, and trying not to gag each time he had to be nice to Malfoy who seemed to be attempting to befriend him.

Cassi, who was in no way spy material, kept choosing bad topics of conversation, if her stepson's response were anything to judge by, and trying to feed Tainen.

Draco was happily oblivious to most of the tension, though even he realized that Severus and Alex were tense, he supposed over the new tattoo. Other then that he was happily attempting to chat with his, well he'd decided to think of him as a potential brother, without pissing him off like he seemed to do often.

Tainen spent dinner eating… that was about it for him.

As dinner ended Snape requested Alex's presence in his study as soon as possible. Harry agreed readily and they left the others at the table while they headed off, happily letting Malfoy believe it was about the tattoo.

"Your glamour dropped at a very convenient time." Severus decided that he usually got further with his son when he skipped the pleasantries.

"Actually, it dropped days ago, when I was in London with friends for that concert. I woke up like this. A friend taught me a new glamour; I put it on each morning. Luckily I heard Malfoy's arrival before I applied it this morning. Then I decided it was better to control the situation from the beginning and came downstairs as 'Alex'."

Snape was inexplicably hurt by the knowledge that his son hadn't even told him when he started looking like him, just covered it up and went on with life. And the casual way he just informed him of it, days after the fact, seemed to hurt even more. "And you didn't think it might be important to inform myself, or the headmaster at the very least, of this?" He tried really hard to curb the anger he knew was leaking into his voice.

"It was your business how? And it was Dumbledore's even less. **I** woke up one morning looking different; **I **took care of the problem. For that matter, **I** am the one whose life keeps getting turned up side down! You're a wizard Harry. You're a Hero Harry. You have a Godfather Harry. You're in the Triwizard Tournament Harry. I want your blood Harry. You're insane Harry. Your Godfather's dead Harry. You're the prophecy child Harry. You're daddy ain't your daddy Harry. You don't look like you Harry."

The words got more bitter and sarcastic as his rant continued, blowing up like he rarely took the luxury of doing, venting to Snape. But the damn man had annoyed him; acting like it was all about him! Like he had some right to Harry's life 16 years after the fact. Like he was the one who had been wronged in this. And maybe he had, Harry was willing to concede, but damn it, so had he, and he could care less about Snape's hurt right now.

Snape didn't know what to say. He couldn't remember Harry yelling at him like this, well since the little revelation this summer. And he really didn't know what to say; who knew the lad was so bitter?

A calming breath, which actually didn't calm him at all despite the fact that it appeared to, allowed Harry to regain control of the situation. "Look, it really doesn't matter. If the situation hadn't called for it today, I never would have dropped the glamour. I've spent 16 years playing the role of Harry Potter, and I have no intention of writing him out of the show that is life now. Lets _do_ focus on the important things sir."

Severus had no idea what he meant about 'writing him out of the show' but figured it was unimportant and was just another way of saying he wasn't going to let the summers revelations change him. "The important things?"

"Yes. For example, I have created a working story. My mother didn't like you, she was Motobon, she is dead, she didn't agree with the Dark Lord. We aren't close, in fact I've never even stayed with you over night before, I live with my mum's relatives, I share my mother's politics, and I spend my free times with muggles. You get to fill in the story about how you and my mother met, or you could claim that despite my sarcasm earlier you do make an effort to respect her by not speaking of her. Also, Cassi keeps bringing up school. I only really know about the three, the Triwizard three. They are all far to main stream for me to talk about intelligently. And I need a last name."

Snape had forgotten that they really did need to plan a bit more of this story before Draco had a chance to pick holes at it.

"I like the story about respecting her enough to not mention her. That removes a lot of obstacles. As for school? You attend a small private academy in Motobo, avoid questions on the subject beyond that. And I suppose you don't want my last name?"

Snape tried very hard not to take it personally. "No, it wouldn't fit the story. If you'll excuse me, I have things to do before I head out tonight." He really didn't but man he wanted out of there now.

After relaxing for another hour or two, Harry took his time getting ready. It was a good 9:30 before he headed downstairs to say goodnight before heading off. He found them in the library, Snape, Cassi and Malfoy. Draco's mouth fell open and his eyes seemed to be making an effort to leave his skull when Harry walked in. He was wearing his skin-tight leather pants and a see-through long-sleeved shiny black top that was held together by a few strategically placed ties along where the seems should have been. Even Cassi and Snape, who had seen him in his party clothes, had never seen him in club clothes. Cassi managed to stammer out a have fun while the two other males in the room watched shocked as Harry left after a quick "Later".

Pure was like Harry remembered it. House music pounding through the smoky haze, strobe lights and spot lights catching tantalizing pieces of movement on the dance floor. The back room which smelled like sex, with moans covered by the music filtering into the room. Beautiful boys and girls, all looking for a good time and the anonymity of hazy hands and mouths and flesh.

The club closed at 4 and Harry decided not to take his current partner up on the offer of continuing the festivities back at his place. He was finally relaxed after the day he had had, the vodka had been flowing all night, as had the ecstasy, and he knew he'd be sore tomorrow morning from the number of times he'd seen the back room.

He was a pro at stumbling up stairs in his condition, and like every other time he'd done, both at the Dursley's and here, he never noticed his audience. Snape and Cassi, listening with bated breath as he bumped into the walls time and time again. Malfoy, listening in shock as his 'brother' stumbled home and his Godfather did nothing.

Earlier when he had finally regained his mind and mouth he had demanded an explanation of how Severus could let Alex go out dressed like that, and to a club! Severus had explained that he had promised not to interfere in his life in the hopes of finally getting some quantity time with his son to get to know him. That this was the norm for Alex when he was on holidays. Now he was awakened by what he knew to be drunken stumbling and instead of it being Lucius getting home from a Death Eater revel it was his 'brother' getting home from gods only know where, after doing gods only know what. Oh well, maybe he could ask him tomorrow. He really needed to get some sleep; he was tied.

Please review, oh happy readers! You will make this annoyed at the end of holidays broke uni student happy!

R&R!


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for the reviews! Much appreciated!

**Chapter Thirteen**

Waking up in a far too bright room facing a House Elf is not what Harry had in mind if he had to pick the ideal way to regain consciousness. And Cheni's high-pitched little voiced didn't help his hangover one bit.

"Oh Master Harry, please wake-up. Mistress Snape is sending Cheni to wake you up and tell you that lunch will be served in 30 minutes."

"Thank-you Cheni, I'm awake. Please make sure there is coffee served with my lunch. I'm going to get ready."

A shower, some fresh clothes and a quick tidy of the room saw Harry ready to head down stairs with his IPod in hand, barely making it outside in time for lunch to be served.

"Good Afternoon Alex. Did you sleep well?"

Cassi was, as ever, far too cheerful for Harry to deal with before his coffee. Slipping into the universal language of those who have yet to enjoy their first cup of the day Harry grunted. Sitting down none too gracefully Harry practically dove on the coffee. 2 cups later he was ready to face the people looking at him with varying degrees of amusement and annoyance.

"Cassi, yes, very well thank-you. Good afternoon all. Draco, I brought down my IPod so I could show you muggle music after lunch. So, what did we all get up too last night and this morning? Daddy dearest you are looking particularly cheerful today!"

Smirking merrily Harry served himself some chicken salad and drank his coffee, quietly patting himself on the back for his efforts to annoy this afternoon.

"Thank-you, I'm sure, Alex. So the club was fun then was it? You seemed to get home earlier then usual last night." Calm and collected was such a funny look on the usually sarcastic and 'slimy git' Snape.

"Ahh, it was great fun, but I decided to head home after closing instead of taking the party back to someone's place. After all, I needed my beauty sleep before tonight. So, no one answered, I may start to feel unloved! What did everyone get up to today?" He may be a little slow on the up take but it was beginning to appear to him that he may be in a most peculiar mood.

Lunch continued in much the same vein, with Harry dominating the conversation and keeping everybody on his or her toes. Moments after he finished he surprised everybody by dragging Draco off to the banks of the lake. Explaining how to use the IPod only took a few minutes and he set it to shuffle so that Draco would get a mix of the music on the IPod, which contained a little bit of everything.

With Draco occupied Harry let his mind drift. He had recognized his behavior at lunch that afternoon. He always got like this, just before the fall. Harry knew he dealt with grief in a somewhat unique way; he hesitated to use the words 'fucked up' but figured most other people probably wouldn't. When something bad happened he shut it down, locked it away in some distant corner of his mind where he could happily pretend to forget about it. That worked for a while, until he subconsciously realized he was ready to deal with it. He tended to get a little weird right before that happened.

Dealing with it was a production in itself. He generally slipped into a pretty bad depression. For days he would lie in bed, unable to summon the interest or energy to do anything. He'd force himself to eat at least one small meal a day, but other then that, nothing. Then he would suddenly be full of energy, but all he would be able to feel was the billion ants crawling under his skin, much worse then the feeling that normally drove him out at night. It would stay with him for days, making him fight for each breath, making him feel like he wanted to claw himself out of his own skin. And then it would be over, the worst of his grief seen too, and he would begin to heal.

He knew it was coming, knew that in the next few days his mind would force him to deal with the death of his Godfather. He supposed it was for the best. He knew that he needed to deal with it before he went back to school. Somehow he doubted he could find a way to explain 'Harry Potter' suddenly slipping into depression followed by several days of binge drinking, drugging and fucking. But Snape and Co. had never dealt with this before either, and he had no idea how he was going to make this work, especially with Malfoy here now. There was nothing for it; he would need Snape's assistance in pulling this off.

It was already 3:30 and Harry still had to get ready for tonight. There was no time like the present to deal with the now requisite meeting with Snape. Telling Malfoy to keep the IPod overnight, he headed back up to the house, hoping Snape had some time now to discuss the problem they would be facing in the next few days.

It wasn't often that Harry sought him out so Severus was more then happy to drop what he was doing and join Harry in his study. He listened as Harry explained the situation, and what Severus would be facing from his son in a few days time. He was shocked to say the least. He knew his son was 'different', but how screwed up was the teen that this was how he dealt with his Dogfather's death, with any kind of grief? Still, he knew better then to point that out, or to comment in anyway. Better just to deal with how they were going to handle the situation.

After some brief debate it was decided that they would pretend it was perfectly normal. That 'Alex' did things like this all the time, occasionally slipping into depression, then slipping into a binge faze, before returning to 'normal'. If they didn't make a big deal out of it, it would make Draco the odd man out if he seemed to focus on it. For this to work, Cassi had to be informed in advance, they needed her to act accordingly.

With a definite game plan in place, Harry headed upstairs to get ready. They were meeting at the hotel to drop of their bags and then heading straight out to dinner so he had to be wearing whatever he planned to wear all night when he left the manor. Packing an overnight bag with clothes for tomorrow and a few DVDs, Harry dressed in tight black jeans and a fitted dark green pin-stripe short-sleeved dress shirt, he then headed downstairs to say goodbye to everybody.

He was really beginning to love this freaking park. Arriving there meant that he was going from whatever game he had running at that moment to being himself, well in most instances. The park was, in some odd way, coming to symbolize the ability to shake himself free of his masks, well, kinda he thought as he morphed back into 'Harry'. The good ole pay phone on the corner served it's purpose once more and a taxi was there 25 minutes later. He walked into the hotel 10 minutes early, at 5:50.

The others arrived soon after and he couldn't help smirking as they begged for the goss he had promised them. Refusing to tell until they were all set and off at dinner they signed in quickly, same room setup applied, and headed off. Hermione was wearing a cute pale blue boat-neck top with low-cut boot-leg dark blue jeans. Charlie was dressed in black slacks and a sleeveless v-neck pullover. Ron was wearing jeans and a black muscle shirt, despite the somewhat lack of muscles.

They went to an Indian restaurant near the hotel, were they ordered one of the banquet meals so they could have a little of everything. Harry figured he really should put them out of their misery.

"So, the other morning, I'm heading downstairs when I hear Draco Malfoy's voice! I decide it's better to control the information he receives; I believe you all met 'Alex' that last morning after the concert right? Anyway, so, 'Alex' meets Malfoy, who, get this, it Snape's _Godson_! Certainly explains why he always gets away with murder ha!" The incredulous looks gave way to an amused sort of annoyance at the way the world works when the others heard this. Telling the rest of the story of what he had been up to, both with Malfoy and alone took another while and then everybody offered what they had been up too.

The booze flowed freely, well okay it cost money but it still flowed, and they took their time eating and just enjoying each others company. The show wasn't set to start until 9pm so they had plenty of time. Heading over just before 9, Harry was attempting to explain why 80s rock ruled, it didn't seem to be working but they were all having too much fun with the explanation to stop.

The pub was really filling up but they managed to find a table and ordered some beer. The band was good, playing Kiss, Bon Jovi, Poison, Skid Row and some others. There was a small dance floor but none of them really felt like dancing tonight. Better to just watch the show, enjoy the music and spending time with each other. The show was great and kept going until after midnight, with 3 small set breaks.

Afterwards a DJ started up and Harry decided that the 4 of them needed to dance a little before heading off. Together they danced to a few songs and then Harry dragged them out. Stopping past a 7/11, open 24 hrs, they bought piles of junk food and softdrinks. When they got back to the hotel they turned on the T.V., popped in a DVD and opened some of the junk food.

It was Lethal Weapon, a great 80s action movie. Harry curled up in Charlie's lap, leaning back against his chest. His feet rested in Hermione's lap as she sat beside them with Ron squeezed in on the end. They covered themselves with a blanket and settled in to watch the movie, laughing at the drama and action, enjoying the cozy way they were all jammed together, eating far too much sugar and loving every moment of it.

It was no surprise to anyone when at the end of Lethal Weapon 2 Harry called it a night, suggesting that maybe Charlie would like to come tuck him in. It was even less of a surprise when Charlie jumped at the opportunity. He followed Harry into the room and was a little startled when the door was kicked closed behind him and he was slammed a little roughly into the door before lips were on his in a demanding kiss, taking from him before he even had the option of offering.

After a moment Harry backed off a bit, just far enough to be able to look Charlie in the eyes. He seemed to be searching for something and Charlie hoped that whatever it was Harry would find it in him. It seemed he did cause soon Harry's lips were back on his with a kind of desperation Charlie remembered feeling from Harry a few times in the past, a desperation he had never been able to understand.

Harry didn't close his eyes as he kissed Charlie, didn't close his eyes as he pulled and pushed until Charlie was stripped and on the bed. Didn't close his eyes as he sought in Charlie whatever he had failed to find in the real world. It was desperate and fast, rough and heart-wrenchingly sad, and somehow Charlie just hoped that Harry found the cure to that haunted look in his eyes, hoped that maybe for one night he could be that cure.

It was over far too soon and while Charlie was still catching his breath Harry had already left their bed. Standing in front of the window, staring at the car park below, Harry smoked a cigarette. He hadn't found his cure; the numbness was beginning to settle in. By tomorrow night he would be so far inside the blackness of his mind that he would forget there was brightness out there, somewhere.

Charlie knew better then to disturb Harry when he got like this; sometimes you just couldn't touch him. He lay there, watching Harry in the dark, pretending to sleep, hoping for sleep, but when Harry finally crawled into bed 4 hours later he was still awake.

The next morning, no amount of coffee could convince Harry to actually join the conversation. Monosyllabic responses were the best they received and by silent agreement they packed up quickly, knowing that Harry would be headed home to crawl into bed for the next few days. It was for the best when he got like this. In a few days he would be himself again.

Signing out was easy and with a quick hug from Hermione Harry morphed back into Alex and portkeyed back to the manor. Heading upstairs without bothering to let anyone know he was back he wished he could hope this would be over soon, wished he could hope for anything.

Please R&R! Don't worry, the next one won't be so dark! Review! Review!


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you all for the reviews! As per your requests (and cause I really wanted it to be there too) a little father/son time! Sorry it took so long, writers block…

**Chapter Fourteen**

Lunch time came and went without Harry appearing. While Severus and Cassi were sure Harry had said he'd be home in time for lunch they weren't yet so used to dealing with him that they realized he almost never was late. However, despite telling themselves that he probably always did things like this they were growing more and more worried as time passed.

It wasn't until Kia served dinner that they realized that Harry was in fact home when a day of worry had Severus turn to the elves, "Kia, please alert us the second Alex arrives home."

"But Master Snape sir, Master Alex is home sir. He is upstairs."

A few questions and Cassi and Severus discovered that Harry had in fact been home since before lunch, was in bed 'asleep' with his eyes open, and hadn't responded when lunch and then dinner were announced. With an understanding look between them, Cassi and Severus realized Harry had slipped into the depression he had warned them about. It was time to begin the game with Draco.

"Kia, please serve Alex some soup. Leave it on his desk but alert him to its presence. I doubt he'll eat it but leave it there for a while incase he does decide to eat it. At each meal for the next few days make something simple and send it up to him please."

A polite "Yes Master Snape" was followed by a House Elf pop of transportation and Kia was gone.

"Why is Alex having simple meals served in his room for the next few days?" Harry was right, Draco was interested.

"He does this sometimes. When emotional things happen he doesn't respond at the time but then later he slips into a kind of depression for a few days. He'll be fine. In a few days he'll get up and go binge for a few days, indulging in all his favorite vices I'd like to pretend didn't exist and then he'll be his usual self."

Acting like it was normal was obviously the right ploy because Draco let it drop. Over the next few days there was a slight tension hanging in the house at all times, blanketing its occupants while they waited each day for word from one of the House Elves that Harry had at least eaten something.

It was three days before they saw Harry again. One afternoon he came bounding down the stairs dressed in leather pants and a dark green mesh wife beater. He proceeded to eat the meal he had requested the elves make him while standing up, talking a mile a minute about the band he and the others had seen the night before he had slipped into his depression, bopping along to music only he could hear. When he was finished he kissed Tainen on the head and yelled bye as he danced out the door. Step 2 had obviously begun.

The adults and teen sitting around the room exchanged a look; that whirlwind that had just blown through was the same lump that hadn't moved all week?

It was four days before anybody in that household saw Harry again. The afternoon before Kia had popped in during a family game of wizard chess to announce that Alex was home and had headed upstairs to bed, so it was no surprise when Harry appeared at breakfast the next morning. Conversation was stilted as they all attempted to pretend that Harry's behavior was perfectly normal, and that they didn't want to ask for a step by step of his last several days in order to _know_ him, _know_ what he had done. But that was never going to happen.

"You know, I really should go and reply to the pile of letters that have built up on my desk over the last few days." Breakfast was ending as Harry seemed to throw that little non-sequeta out there, and oh gods, was the teen pouting? "Anyway, I really don't wanna… care for a game of wizard's chess old man? It's a guaranteed victory, I suck at chess."

It was the first time Harry had ever offered to spend time with Severus when it wasn't about business. He had decided it was time to throw the man a bone, even if he kinda, really didn't wanna. Severus jumped at the chance, and a quick look between Cassi and Sev ensured that Cassi distracted the other two children from wanting to watch the chess game.

"That's sounds great, and I'm sure you're not _that_ bad! Shall we adjourn to the lounge room?"

It didn't take Sev long to realize that Harry was indeed _that_ bad. The second game ended in much the same manner as the first and not even 20 minutes had passed since they had sat down to play.

They were setting up for the third game when Harry finally spoke. "So, tell me a story, father mine."

"What type of story would you like?"

"Well, what's say we skip the ancestral history lesson, which one of these days you are going to have to give me, medical history would at least be helpful, but not today. Today let's go for something a little lighter. You knew my mother since you were 11, there must be something you can tell me."

"Of course. Is there a particular something you're interested in?"

"No, just something new. Let me tell you what I know about my mother and then you can tell me something new, okay? She had green eyes, was head girl, was very nice, a fairly major player in the first war, has an older sister, her parents were supportive of her magic, good at charms, Cassi mentioned that, like me, she needed a cup of coffee to start the day, and she willing gave her life in order to save mine- anything new would be nice."

Severus felt his heartbreak that this was all his son knew about the fantastic, beautiful, intelligent women that was his mother, but he was getting used to the sensation this summer. It was time the teen knew more about Lily, and Severus could give him that. And as a bonus, the teen was actually reaching out to him for the first time.

"How about I tell you why your mother and I served a weeks worth of detention at the beginning of our fourth year?"

By the smirk on Severus' face Harry could already tell that this story was going to be good. A simple inclination of the head had Severus beginning the tale.

"I'm pretty sure you know all about the Marauders, and their history of pranking the school, especially the Slytherins? Well, your mother and I had decided on the train ride home at the end of our third year that someone needed to give them a taste of their own medicine. By correspondence over the summer we came up with the plan…"

By this point Severus could tell he had his son's complete attention. He knew he had chosen well, a story about a mischievous deed was something that would appeal to the prankster he knew resided inside the Gryffindor, and the fact that it also included James, who Severus knew Harry considered the father of his heart if not his blood, was another bonus. It was also very light hearted, one of the few stories were he a James were acting 'all in good fun', instead of having the usual undercurrent of hatred.

"As you know your mother excelled at charms, and I was quite good at potions. It was also my job to do the transfiguration work required. At the start of each year the Marauders started the feast be sharing a toast, they always did it. They drank to a new year of pranks. We felt that it was only right then that those drinks be doctored."

"Over the summer I had brewed a potion which caused the person to have an extremely high pitched voice, your mother slipped it into the Marauders drinks at the Welcoming feast. I remember trying to covertly watch them, waiting to see them do their traditional toast, and trying to avoiding looking at your mother because I knew I would burst out laughing if I did. When we saw them drink we both cast our spells. I transfigured their robes into these flowing white angel looking robes. At the same time your mother cast a weightless charm, which made them float, and another charm that caused them to sing every time they tried to speak."

"Needless to say they caused quite the spectacle when they started floating around the room in cherubic robes, singing about not having any clue what was going on in these high pitched voices. It was definitely worth the week worth of detention we got when we got caught."

Harry couldn't help laughing at the images this helped conjure. Oh, they would have just looked like little angels, he was sure, and yes, he even thought in sarcasm.

Severus continued on with another story, this time telling Harry about Lily's near hysteria leading up to the OWLs. The morning continued in much the same vein, with story after story, and for the first time ever Harry felt like he truly knew his mother. And if he was honest with himself, it didn't suck that he was also getting to know his 'father' by default as he was in all the stories with Lily as her best friend.

Lunch time almost came too soon, though Harry would never admit that, even under the worst torture he could imaging- quantity time with reporters. Packing up the chessboard they headed outside to join the others for a picnic lunch down by the lake.

What happened next Harry hadn't seen coming, and he really rather wished he had. Maybe if he had have spent the morning reading his backlogged mail like he should have, maybe it wouldn't have happened. But hindsight is 20/20, and there was nothing he could do about it when Bill Weasley was shown outside to where the family was having lunch. They had been so distracted messing about that they didn't even hear him coming, the first sign of another person joining them was the clearing of a throat followed by a simple "Alex"

"Bill, hey, what on earth are you doing here?" Harry really hoped the tension in his voice wasn't obvious, and the tight smile didn't look as fake as it felt. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you! Umm, introductions, I don't suppose you know everybody. This is Severus Snape, umm you know, umm my father" please don't let me choke on that word "umm, his wife Cassi and my little brother Tainen. And this is Draco Malfoy, Daddy Dearest's Godson." He really hated his tendency to babble when surprised somedays, oh it was good babble that never betrayed too much info but it was still babble.

"A pleasure to meet you Bill. We were just having lunch, care to join us? It wouldn't take but a moment for the Elves to bring you a setting," Cassi, ever the gracious host, invited.

"No thank-you. I just need a second of Alex's time. I've been waiting for a reply to an invitation I sent a few days ago but I'm afraid I really need that answer by tonight, and I also thought coming in person would allow me to reiterate the importance of it."

"Sorry Bill. I was a little out of it for few days. I was going to go through my mail this afternoon. Did you wish to discuss this in private, or will here do?" He trusted Bill not to mention anything he ought not to.

"I had heard; I'm glad you're feeling better. Normally it wouldn't matter but tonight is a matter of rather great importance. And either is fine."

"Then shoot!" Bill would never get used to the muggle sayings Harry insisted on using, even if he had learned to interpret their meaning.

"This evening there is a family dinner at my parents house. I have a rather important announcement that I wanted the entire family there to hear. Look, Alex, I have no idea what it is you and Charlie define whatever it is you have as, because I know you are what they had in mind when they created the term commitment phoebe, but whatever it is, it's been gong on for like 2 years. I would appreciate your presence. Besides Mum wants to see you, she was worried when she heard you had been unwell again."

Damn, Harry was choking. He really rather wished he had opted for private now. At least Bill knew better then to mention his friendship with Bill's youngest brothers, which would have been too hard to explain. But maybe it would have been less terrifying. He knew the Weasley considered his family, he returned that feeling 110, but he preferred it when he was family because he was Ron's best friend, not because he was whatever he was with Charlie.

"Of course Bill, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Umm, how about if I get there around 5-ish, that way your mother can hover before dinner?" Harry appreciated that no one commented on the way he had paled, or the fact that his voice came out strangled, or the slightly ragged way he was currently breathing now.

"Great, see you tonight." And he was gone, headed back toward the house so he could leave the apparation wards.

It was Draco who asked what they had all been wondering, "So, what do you define whatever you and Charlie have as?" Someone rally needed to slap that smirk off his face in Harry's opinion. And the fact that he could tell Draco meant it as good-natured ribbing, and the fact that Harry felt the same, just added to the turmoil of his brain.

"Nothing, nothing. We're friends. Okay, so we fall into bed together sometimes, but that's it. And since when are Charlie and I a Charlie and I? As _us_? A _we_? Are they crazed? We're friends. It doesn't mean anything. It's totally casual…"

The rant continued as the others looked on in amusement, Draco barely managing not to laugh. Cassi holding in her triumphant look, she bet she knew who got him those concert tickets for his birthday. Severus torn between amusement at his son's panic over being thought to be in a _relationship_, concern over the fucked nature that was blind panic over such a simple thing, and wanting to demand every detail about the second eldest Weasley, and yell over the age difference. Harry decided retreat was the best policy.

"Well, I better head inside and answer my mail before anyone else shows up looking for me. Oh, and I guess I won't be here for dinner tonight." And before he left tonight, he had some thinking to do.

Please R&R!


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks to all those who reviewed!

I was also just made aware of the fact that I had anonymous reviews turned off, they are now turned on- SORRY! So to all those who have ever tried to review but couldn't you can now!

Sorry it took so long – sick, then computer problems, then busy, then homework... yadda

Chapter Fifteen 

Answering the rest of his mail took a surprisingly long time, man he never realized before how many letters he got over a 7-day period. The fact that he had long ago set up a way for his muggle friends to send him mail in the wizarding world, via Hermione's parent's, meant that he spent the next several hours answering his mail. There was nothing particularly of note, asides from the several letters from Bill requesting his presence at that night's dinner and providing a portkey.

By the time he was finished he barely had time for a shower and to pick out an outfit before he had to be headed downstairs to say goodnight.

"I'm off now, I'll probably just stay over, never know how late these things are going to run."

"Well, if you change your mind, you have your portkey." Ever subtle Severus, was it just Harry or was his dear _father_ not quite so happy to learn that Harry had a semi-stable guy as one would think he would have been?

"Have fun." Harry stood by the earlier thought that someone needed to smack that smirk off Draco's face.

"Yes, do have a nice night dear." Oh gods, even _Cassi_ was smirking at him now! Where was a cliff to throw oneself of in mortal embarrassment when one needed it?

Gods, he never got tired of it, the sights, the smells, the warm feeling of almost perfect contentment that came when he entered the Weasley's home. This place could never just be called a _house_; it was definitely a _HOME_. Charlie, Bill and Arthur weren't there yet, and Percy was still on the outs of the family, so Harry got to spend time with the rest of the Weasley family.

"Oh Harry dear, or should I say Alex? Well aren't you just adorable like that, look at your silky hair!" Molly exclaimed the second she saw him, wrapping her arms around him in a bone-rearranging hug like always.

"Umm, it's probably best to stick to Alex in this form Mrs Weasley. It's great to see you."

He exchanged hugs with the others too. He was so happy Ginny had finally moved past her little crush of years ago but he supposed that finding out that he had slept with 2 of her 6 older bothers, 1 of whom he still slept with on a fairly regular bases, would put a bit of a dampener on her fantasies of an idyllic life with the hero. And seeing one in their pajamas with messy bed hair, yawning over porridge helped to disabuse one of hero-worship tendencies too.

Speculation ran wild among the teens as they discussed why Bill had insisted on calling the entire family together for dinner: Ginny seemed to be hoping that Bill was going to introduce his new girlfriend, she didn't think much of the current one. Ron thought maybe it had something to do with work. Fred and George came up with a more peculiar theory every 10 minutes. Harry secretly suspected that Bill was investing in a ball and chain, commonly called an engagement ring, and was announcing it tonight, but he wasn't going to suggest it and ruin the surprise for the others.

At 6:00 the Floo sprung to life and Charlie stepped through. Despite the fact that everyone knew they were sleeping together, even Molly knew about it, Harry still preferred not to make with any public displays in front of this particular group of people. Trading a kiss in the family kitchen, in front of said family was a little too _sweet_. Luckily though no one opted to comment when both boys headed upstairs with lame excuses, and returned 10 minutes later looking slightly flushed. Now that was a hello kiss! It wasn't long before Arthur also appeared. Now they were just waiting on Bill and his guest.

At 6:30 Bill arrived with Fleur, thereby dispelling Ginny theory. Greetings all around and they sat down to a fantastic family dinner. Big news traditionally being given with desert, no one pestered Bill just yet. Conversation flowed as it only can among family, with that grounding feeling of comfort even families who don't generally get along seem to gain from each other. It was over a fork full of mashed potatoes and peas that Harry realized that this almost reminded him of lunch at the manor, that even though he was still more comfortable here, he was starting to feel this way at the manor too. If his mind wasn't already refusing to process difficult thoughts, out of defense to the earlier revelation from Bill, this might have made him terribly uncomfortable in his own skin and mind.

The announcement came with desert like Harry expected. Engaged, of the to be married variety. It was so clichéd, tears and wine flowed, everybody was happy, hell even Ginny seemed happy despite the fact that Harry knew her opinion of Bill's brand new fiancé. Harry was happy too. He knew that his natural sarcasm might imply otherwise but the simple truth was that he loved Bill. He was a good friend, he was family, and this would make him happy. Bill, like all the Weasley's, was the settle down type, and like all the Weasley's, Harry knew this was right for him.

Desert ended and over coffee the weddings plans began, general at this point, just ideas being thrown around. It was nearing midnight before it was decided that they should all call it a night. As always a bed had been set up for Harry in Ron's room, and as always everybody knew that since Charlie was home it wouldn't be where he slept. He did head up to Ron's room though, where joined by the twins the four of them sat around chatting for another hour or so before Harry headed back down to Charlie' room.

Harry rarely indulged in sex under the Weasley's roof, and when he did it was always fast and quite, almost like he wanted to get it over with before he could settle down and relax. Of course that wasn't to say that he didn't find the nearby field convenient, but something about fucking the son of the closet thing he had ever known to parents under their roof always made Harry feel a little dirty, sleeping with was a whole different matter.

Charlie had been lying in the dark waiting for Harry to get back from his brother's room, so it was no surprise when he felt the bed dip and Harry slide in next to him. There was no whispered conversation that night, no sex, or anything else, a brief kiss and then Harry burrowed himself against Charlie's side, Charlie's arms came around him and they settled down to sleep.

Waking up alone when he had gone to bed with someone else was usually a blessing for Harry, saved the annoying morning after conversations with people you are already in the process of forgetting. So, the fact that Harry always found it unpleasant when he woke up alone after having gone to sleep with Charlie next to him wasn't something he planned to examine. It was just something he accepted when he woke up the next morning, already dreading the day. He just new it was likely to suck.

Over a large breakfast Molly reminded the children that September first was only 5 days away, and they had yet to go shopping. 5 days until he had to play Harry Potter for the world, 5 days before it was back to being the most loved, the most hated, and the most unknown person he could think of, unless Tommy Boy actually hugged puppies in secret.

Everybody else was ready, they had picked their subjects, they were all just waiting on Harry. It was just about lunchtime so Harry figured it was time to head home, open that bloody letter, choose some subjects and prepare to smile pretty for the public while shopping. With an agreement made to meet at the Leaky Cauldron the next morning to shop Harry took his portkey back to the manor.

He ran into Cassi in the entrance hall and she told him Draco had returned home that morning to prepare for school, so it would just be 'the immediate family' for lunch, Harry tried not to glare, sneer or grimace at that description, he didn't know if he succeeded though. Lunch was about to start so Harry decided to rush upstairs to grab his Hogwarts letter, deciding to read it and start thinking about subjects over lunch. Of course, later Harry would tell himself it was because he was in such a rush, and just so relieved about being free of Draco, that he decided to read his letter in front of them, but really he knew that was no excuse. He knew they were interested in it, so of course reading it in front of them was just asking for trouble, and his bad mood didn't help any either.

Sitting down to lunch after trading greetings Harry opened his Hogwarts letter.

Dear Mr. Harold James Potter,

Please find enclosed your results from the sittings of your Ordinary Wizarding Levels. The exams were graded impartially and all judges and examiners were tested with veritaserum to ensure no bias.

The grading system is as follows:

O- Outstanding

E- Exceeds Expectations

A- Acceptable

P- Poor

D- Dreadful

T- Troll

Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: O

Charms: E

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: D

Herbology: E

History of Magic: P

Potions: O

Transfiguration: E

Griselda Marchbanks

High OWL Examiner

Ministry of Magic

Well, not as bad as he would have thought.

He had read it through twice, before he realized he had managed to capture the attention of the two other people at the table old enough to not be fascinated by their diced hotdog, and he hadn't even been trying.

"Something I can do for you both, or are you attempting to give me an eating disorder by staring?"

"We were just wondering what your Hogwarts letter said, dear." Harry tried to control his temper. First that crack about family, and then this whole questioning him about school thing, and okay, the bad mood was already there… even Cassi had the power to annoy him today.

"Well gee, I didn't realize it was so note worthy. I passed." Maybe they missed the biting tone since he hadn't directed it at them in a while, maybe they were just glutton for angst, but either way they pushed it. Trading a glance with Sev, Cassi tried again.

"That's great, Harry! But I already knew you would. What marks did you get?"

Slightly incredulous Harry couldn't help the sneer that seemed to take over his face. "Oh, I'm sorry I guess I missed the part were this was somebody's business other then mine. I got a D in Divination, a P in History of Magic, an A in Astronomy, an E in Charms, Herbology and Transfig, and an O in CoMC, DADA and Potions."

There was really no excuse for what happened next. Even Crabbe wouldn't have been so slow as to say what Sev did next. Even with much thought later he couldn't come up with an excuse about what possessed him in the moment the words left his mouth. Why not just yank that tiger's tale and alienate your newfound son a bit more…

"An O in potions? How did you manage that?" Sev's eyes widened almost comically even as the words left his mouth. Oh crap…

Cassi had already begun to realize that asking for clarification on the 'passed' issue hadn't been a good idea, but this was bloody ridiculous. Wide eyed she watched, praying it wasn't gonna be too bad.

The speed with which Harry's eyes widened for a moment before slamming into a look that gave whole new meaning to the saying 'if looks could kill' was almost scary. And the voice could freeze ice…

"How did I get an O in potions? Well it's quite simple you see. I'm actually fairly good at potions, it's quite a bit like cooking, an activity I have always enjoyed. Odd that I have almost failed it every other year then, yes? Well see I had a class full of Slytherin's who were constantly sabotaging my potions, and an arsehole of a professor who not only did nothing, but damn near encouraged it. Hell he hated me so much that he practically sabotaged them himself with the standing over my shoulder yelling constantly thing. A right prick who took far to much pleasure in my failures, in insulting me and mine, and in generally taking points and giving detentions for my mere continued existence, mea culpa for that. Now, if you don't mind, the words Fuck you very much and good day come to mind."

No one was stupid enough to try to stop him as he headed back up to the house.

Reviews not only welcome but demanded!


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks to all those who reviewed! I know, it's been awhile, but look at it this way… in the interim I have learned more then I ever wanted to know about all sorts of things that are only important to Uni Lecturers! Chapter Sixteen 

Harry barely made it to the Leaky Cauldron in time to meet his friends the next day. After the charming scene at the manor the day before Harry had headed back to Little Whinging, from there it wasn't too hard to find a party. After a night Harry couldn't really remember he had woken up in an unknown bed, in an unknown house, with an unknown girl beside him, with aches and pains in all sorts of interesting places- all signs that he had probably had a very good evening, night, morning… whenever.

Still, now it was time to play the perfect little hero, with his Harry Potter façade firmly in place, Harry didn't let the pounding he felt in his head, or the ace in his body, show as he greeted Hermione and Ron at a little table in the back of the pub. They had been friends with Harry far to long to fall for it though, and they knew something was wrong, but a quick look from Harry made it clear that now was not the time for questions.

Shopping went quickly and before they knew it they had everything they could possibly need for the new school year. The stares, whispers and giggles had been successfully ignored, random meet and greets with friends and acquaintances from Hogwarts had been handled like troopers and they were ready to head away from the Wizarding World until September 1st was upon them.

Heading out into Muggle London Harry knew he couldn't put it off for much longer. Hermione never was very good at waiting for the information, always had to have it now. They headed toward a park and after settling under a tree Harry began his story.

The whole tale came pouring out; the 'family' comments, the opening of his Hogwarts letter, the O in potions, and then Severus' stupid comments. Hermione and Ron couldn't believe their Potions Master had been so stupid.

"And I know I was already on edge, that all this talk of Hogwarts had me thinking too much but really, it was still bloody foolish of him. The arsehole! It just brought it all back, I mean, I hadn't ever really forgotten, but at the same time I had, I don't know… been having fun. It was kinda nice, ya know? Or maybe not. It was different, I didn't hate it when Cassi would bring me a snack in the middle of the afternoon when I was in my room 'just in case I was hungry', or when Tai would bug me for stories about Hedwig, or, gods all damn me, but I liked it when he would tell me stories about my mum. I was almost getting comfortable, and then this just reminded me I guess, of why I don't. Of why I never let myself get comfortable."

Ron & Hermione always found it sad when faced with a reminder of just how closed off their friend was. Not just because it meant that he had obviously had a past which lead to this moment, to this problem, but also because it mean that even after all this time his life still hadn't really gotten any better, and he couldn't really foresee a time when it might. Basically, life not only sucked then, but sucks now and will probably still suck tomorrow.

The Trio hung around the park for a while longer, but the conversation had taken a much lighter turn. Joking and laughing the threesome relaxed, knowing that it could be awhile before they were all truly free to relax again. As they prepared to leave, deciding to head to a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner Hermione returned the conversation to Harry's current family problems once more.

"Harry, don't give up just yet. Yes, he screwed up, so maybe just take a step back from whatever relationship you had brewing, but don't let his error effect what you were building with your brother or, though I know you hate the term, your stepmother. Give them a chance. And maybe, Snape will learn from this, maybe that will still work out, for all that I know you aren't sure you even want a father."

"Thanks Mi, I know you just want what's best for me."

Ron always could be relied upon to lighten a serious moment just when it needed to be lightened. "Hey, I was thinking! Why don't we make a little bit of a night of it! I have really been wanting to go see a movie on the big screen again even since you guys took me before. Lets call Charlie, I bet he could take tomorrow off, and the 4 of us can go see a movie!"

It was quickly agreed upon and the threesome headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to borrow a floo connection to contact Charlie, and the parents of Ron and Mi. As luck would have it, Charlie was able to arrange someone to cover for him tomorrow; he had covered for them a few weeks ago so they were happy to return the favor. Charlie was ready quickly and headed off to meet the others where they were waiting at the Thai restaurant that had been selected by the Hogwart's students earlier that day. They had agreed to meet so Harry could change into his Alex persona before dinner, for he couldn't do it at the pub when they had already seen the famous Trio enter.

After dinner they decided to see the latest action flick, Harry always did have a thing for fake violence, it always seemed more like a comedy to him. The movie was great, and if Harry and Charlie lifted the divider between their chairs and watched the movie snuggled up, well… Charlie would never tell and Harry would deny it till he was blue in the face.

Afterward they headed back toward the Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Mi had to be getting home. They split up about a block before they pub, saying goodbye, knowing the Trio most likely wouldn't see each other again before school started, and that there was no telling when Charlie would have convenient free-time. Harry walked Mi to a taxi point so she could head home, and Charlie walked Ron to the pub so he could floo home. Then it was just the boys. Charlie was finished with his task first and managed to meet Harry just a short distance from the taxi point. Together, with their arms wrapped around each others waists, the boys headed to a nearby gay nightclub, where they could spend a while dancing freely and drinking.

It was the early hours of the morning before the boys were ready to call it a night, and they had both had a bit too much to drink. Perhaps that is what made Harry reckless enough to think his next idea was a good one, and made Charlie agree. When Charlie suggested they find a motel to crash at, knowing only a fleabag joint would be open, Harry decided why bother. He had a perfectly good bed, in a perfectly good room, at Snape manor. Severus could just live with it if Harry wanted to bring over company. Besides it's not like they don't know about Charlie.

At first Charlie tried to argue, but alcohol and that thing Harry was doing to his neck helped to convince him talking was by far over-rated and the sooner they found a bed, oh gods- how many hands did Harry have anyway, the better.

A quickly hissed word and the boys were appearing at the manor. They managed to keep their feet upon arrival, but Charlie's back soon found the wall beside the first step. Slamming into it with a force he knew he would regret tomorrow, Harry followed, never allowing his mouth to lose contact with Charlie- his mouth, his face, his neck. Charlie knew he should wait, or at the very least stop moaning like a whore, but he just couldn't seem to make it happen. Harry dragged himself away from Charlie and pulled him up the steps. They managed to make it all the way to the top before they lost their balance. Stumbling on the last step the boys hit the floor of the second story with a muffled thump. Harry took the opportunity to divest Charlie of his shirt, then pulled his own off as he and Charlie regained their footing. They shirts forgotten, the boys finally made it to Harry's room, slamming the door behind them.

At the Manor

After Harry had left yesterday things had been tense. Severus had slipped into a depression; his son was never going to forgive him for the early years of their relationship. Cassi hadn't known what to do, she had come to genuinely care for her stepson and she knew this was going to damage the relationship they had been slowing forming together, she was torn between wanting to comfort her husband, and being outraged at his stupid question, as well as his behavior toward a young Harry. The day had passed slowly while the two valiantly tried to pretend nothing was wrong in front of Tainen while hoping and praying to any power that would listen that Harry would come home, that he hadn't left for good.

Draco had arrived after dinner, hoping to spend the last few days of the holidays with the closet thing to a little brother he had, and also with the guy he was hoping would also take the title of brother. He really liked Alex. It was clear upon his arrival that something was very wrong in Snape manor. When he asked where Alex was Severus had attempted to keep his face blank but it was clear that underneath he was terrified and heartbroken. Cassi had said softly that he had gone out. When he asked when he would be home, Cassi could only say that they weren't sure.

Draco realized that questions were inappropriate at the moment and left the subject until after Tainen had gone to bed. But once he had Draco returned to the topic. His Godparents would only say that Sev and Alex had gotten into a huge fight and Alex had left when Severus had said something quite possibly unforgivable. Now they didn't know if Alex was going to return this summer, or ever again. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Draco bid them goodnight, adding his prayers to theirs that his brother would return soon.

For Severus and Cassi sleep refused to come that night, yet when morning arrived they were not really surprised that they hadn't heard Harry's return in the night. They went about their day as best they could, pretending all was well. Draco wasn't fooled, and although he didn't understand even Tainen knew something was wrong.

Another sleepless night meant that both Sev and Cassi were awake to hear the thud of a drunken portkey arrival downstairs in the early hours of the morning. Rushing out of bed and reaching for dressing gowns they were preparing to go and see Harry, at the very least to ensure he was all right when they realized they could hear very loud moans and the occasional quieter ones, two different moans. Two different sets of footsteps headed up the stairs. Their son had not returned alone. Freezing in place they could do nothing but listen to the thud of two bodies hitting the floor at the top of the stairs, and eventually to the slamming of a door.

Knowing there was nothing they could do tonight, not without further alienating Harry, Sev and Cassi returned to bed once again, hoping sleep would claim them, but not being at all surprised when it didn't.

It was the second night since he had returned to the manor and Draco was becoming increasingly concerned that whatever Sev and Alex had fought about would cause permanent damage to what he knew was an already shaky relationship. All during the day he had tried to discover the cause of the fight Sev and Alex had had but had been unable to do so. The night before his slumber had been turbulent, tossing and turning in concern for his family, and tonight's sleep wasn't proving any better.

He had finally found a restless sleep when the thud from downstairs woke him. He was relieved that Alex was home, now maybe he could get some answers. But before he was even out of bed he realized Alex wasn't alone. Slightly shocked and very amused by the potential for future fun at his brother's expense, Draco couldn't help but listening, wondering what was happening. Though he tried to stop his teenaged mind from doing it, his mind seemed to be trying to figure out what exactly caused each moan, oh but for he vivid imagination of a teenager. The slamming of the door brought him back to reality and he realized he was hard from listening to one of the closest things he had to a brother and somebody else. His face burning with embarrassment, he tried to find sleep, much more at ease now that Alex was home, and hoping he wouldn't blush if he had to meet the mystery guest over breakfast the next day.

The Morning After

The first thing Charlie was aware of was the pounding in his head, the second was the stabbing pain the sun made through his eyelids, the third was the carpet he had formally referred to as a tongue. Opening his eyes he couldn't identify the room but he did recognize the pants thrown over a nearby chair. If he was with Harry A) all was well in his world, and B) it really wasn't that unusual not to know where he was when waking with Harry.

Lying in bed trying to recall the night before Charlie really wished he could call out for Harry but something in him told him that maybe he shouldn't. Maybe he was Alex today? Or maybe he was Harry? Oh for the simple days when the guy only had one name and more baggage then one thought humanly possible… now things were complicated…

Harry came back into the room, he lad obviously made a toilet run but really wished he was still asleep. He was Alex today. "Alex?" Charlie groaned "Where are we?"

"Snape Manor" 'Sometimes I really hate the throw away manor in which Harry lets slip important information', Charlie thought as he went from lying on the bed to the attempting to pull on his pants on the other side of the room in about .03 seconds.

"WHAT!" Charlie damn near shrieked for all that he was attempting to keep his voice down.

"Yes, I'm not really sure why we decided to come here, but here we are. We should shower, and then I guess head down to breakfast. Charlie, quit panicking. Just be calm and act like everything is fine and everything will be, show weakness and life will go for your throat… in this case life being another term for my dear _family_."

Charlie wasn't comfortable with this plan but he knew better then to argue, Harry was generally right about these things. Attempting to take a calming breath, Charlie followed Harry into the bathroom. A far to quick shower later, and Charlie was trying to draw out the chore of getting dressed… all the better to avoid the family.

"Gee Charlie, I eat with your family all the time and I don't panic." Harry commented mockingly. A glare was the only response Charlie offered that stupid comparison.

"Umm, Alex, where's my shirt?"

"Yea, I couldn't find my shirt from last night either, knowing us, there's a chance they never made it to the bedroom. Wanna borrow one?"

Charlie had paled spectacularly when he realized the shirt could very well have been left anywhere, his only hope was that he was shirtless before they made it to the house, and today didn't seem like a lucky kinda day to him. He was screwed.

Harry grabbed a simple black muscle shirt, that was a little lose on him, helping Charlie put it on he tried to calm him down. "Relax, we'll be fine. We have done nothing wrong; everything will be okay. Just Breathe." The shirt was tight but wasn't 'obviously not his' kinda tight. Knowing there was nothing for it, Charlie took a breath and, grabbing Harry's hand, headed downstairs with him.

I know you will all hate me at this point but… CLIFFHANGER!

Reviews coveted!


	17. Chapter 17

Damn People! I am supposed to be writing a take-home exam right now but nooooo… I mean, okay, I knew it was mean to give you all a cliffhanger but really, the impassioned pleas for the next chapter just made me feel bad! So here ya'll go…

**Chapter Seventeen**

The family was already gathered around the breakfast table when Harry and Charlie joined them.

"Draco! You're back? So, I guess introductions… Charlie this is Draco Malfoy, my brother Tainen, Cassi, and of course Daddy Dearest Severus. Everyone this is Charlie. So did you get everything handled for school Dray?"

Harry asked as he plopped down in a chair dragging Charlie into the one beside him. It was obvious that he wasn't going to acknowledge the situation as anything other then normal. He was pointedly ignoring Draco's almost shy eyeing up of Charlie, which quickly changed to amusement as he listened to Harry expertly take control of and direct the conversation. He pretended not to see Cassi as she unashamedly evaluated Charlie, happily eyeing her stepson, glad he was back no matter who he had brought with him. Of course she was happy to meet the man she had decided in her head and knew in her heart was important to her stepson. He also made a point of ignoring the almost hopeful look Severus kept directing his way, and the baleful look of anger directed toward Charlie.

"Yes, everything is all set for school. I figured since I had a few days, and had no idea when next I might see you I would spend the last few days until one of us has to leave here. Have fun last night?" Draco didn't think Alex should be able to gloss over Charlie's presence that easily.

"That'll be fun. And yes, last night was great fun! We went to dinner and a movie with some friends and then Charlie and I went on to a club for a few hours. Maybe we could spend some time together tomorrow. I love Muggle movies, have you ever been to the cinema, they show movies on a big screen? It could be great!"

"No, I haven't. I'm sure it will be great!" Actually Draco didn't even know what a movie was, and didn't think he would like anything Muggle for all that he had enjoyed the music Alex had shown him earlier in the holidays but he would do just about anything to spend time with his very cool brother.

"Maybe we can grab lunch in Muggle London too. I doubt you've ever had Muggle fast-food before."

"So, how old are you Charlie?" Seveus couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut any longer. He knew he shouldn't say anything, that he was risking pissing Harry off even more when their relationship was already on eggshells but he couldn't seem to resist.

Charlie tried not to blush, tried valiantly to keep his voice level, but he knew he had failed on both counts "umm… 24…" He really wanted to throw a 'sir' on the end there but he knew Harry would never let him live it down; and he was far more scared of the guy who held his future sexual bliss in various regions of his body then of the guy who had fathered him.

Harry couldn't decide between jumping in at this point to save Charlie, and to stop Sev before he did anything stupid, and just letting it go and letting the arsehole hang himself. Luckily for Severus, Cassi had no desire to see her husband destroy his rocky relationship with their newfound teenage son. This being the case she jumped in before Severus had a chance to comment further.

"So, dinner and a movie with friends and then on to a club? That does sound like fun Alex! Your usual group of Wizarding friends or some of your Muggle friends, I'm afraid I don't know who you spend time with in the Muggle world." She knew she was bordering on asking too many personal questions but she was fairly sure that Harry would recognize that she was trying to avoid anything about Charlie's personal life, Harry's was currently the lesser of two evils. She really hoped her stepson would cut her some slack today…

It seems he was in a forgiving mood. "Wizarding friends, but we were in Muggle London. You know I have made it a bit of a holiday project to broaden the horizons of my Wizarding friends." Although Mi was Muggle born she had been raised in the suburbs reading books, not spending time at nightclubs or listening to the various forms of Muggle music. "What have you guys been up to Cassi? What adventure has my little brother been on the last few days?"

Severus seemed desperate to speak but he knew he shouldn't, and the fast flow of conversation, everybody seemed to be jumping in with answers almost before the person before was finished speaking, helped him to curb the almost painful desire to question the 8-years-his-sons-senior guy who his son just happened to be fucking, apparently on a semi-regular basis for the last 2 years!

Conversation flowed around the table, carried between Harry, Cassi and Draco. Charlie seemed distracted by wishing that the floor would open up and swallow him now, and by praying to every deity he could think of and several random ones covered under 'anyone who may be listening' kinda prayers that he would A) survive this breakfast, or B) die a quick and painless death right this very second- he wasn't much picky how.

It was Draco who failed to resist the siren call of temptation and asked the next question of Charlie. And Harry knew that all he could do to Draco was glare at the guy a little and maybe a few hours of silent treatment, anything beyond that would be considered over reacting and give rise to further questions, keeping Draco from asking questions on _any_ topic was a 24/7 job.

"So, what do you do Charlie?" Draco wasn't surprised when his brother seemed to be trying to end his life with a single look from across the table. In fact, it was part of the fun of asking the question. But he knew not to ask too many questions, Alex would kick his arse for that, but he could get away with one or two… probably best to stick to one.

"Dragon Handler at a Dragon Preserve in Romania." Of course that got everyone's attention. Even in the magical world, were it was well known dragons existed, they were rare and VERY cool, or rare and very dangerous of the 'insane to want to spend quality time with them' variety!

Draco couldn't help the shocked looked which quickly changed to awe before he had managed to get control of his face. His very cool brother was kinda dating a Dragon Handler! Did life get any better?

Serverus knew that his face clearly showed how incredulous he was with the situation- A Dragon Handler? His son was screwing, unofficially but in reality dating, a Dragon Handler. He had always been of the opinion that you had to be slightly insane or have a death wish to work in that profession; neither boded well, in his opinion, for the kind of man his son had managed to form an attachment to, almost better that his son keep sleeping around. Of course, his son was still sleeping around so it was actually more of a 'the worst of both worlds' kinda situation. And he was 8 years older then him! Could that damn boy, whom he loved more then life- don't get him wrong, do nothing simple?

Cassi was torn. On the one hand she herself had had a thing for bad boys in her youth, and she very much considered anyone who would go into such a profession to be a bad boy, really, they spend all day playing with giant fire breathing lizards, that wasn't a real job, that was a thrill ride. And she could certainly see the appeal to her son in this handsome man, especially added with that bad boy image she now had of him. But on the other hand, she was a mother! And no mother wanted their son dating a bad boy who's job was a thrill ride, that said far too many things about the type of man he was.

Tainen hadn't really been listening to what all the big people were talking about, far too content to play with his breakfast, but the word dragon got his attention. He knew a Dragon Handler meant someone who spent a lot of time with dragons, he could just picture them riding dragons around all day, and getting dragons to breathe fire to toast marshmallows at night.

It was Tainen who broke the silence before it had really had a chance to settle. "Dwagans, Dwaaagansssss!" The boy giggled and laughed, clapping his hands happily. "Tell, tell!"

Harry couldn't resist grinning at the little boys antics, he seemed to have lost all thought but for the dragons, breakfast lay forgotten, and the idea of using full sentences, which his parents had been attempting to teach him of late, was readily forgotten. Charlie had thought the boy's response was adorable but when he saw Harry's face, he remembered why he had fallen in love with the unobtainable young man, why he put up with being in an open relationship, sharing the young man with anything half-decent looking in the world, when he knew it was going to hurt some days, a lot of days. It hurt when he saw marks on his lover's skin that he hadn't left there, when he called and Harry was already out, when Harry didn't write for weeks sometimes, but he still loved him, and he knew what he had with the young man was better then nothing, that the occasional hurt was well worth the good times, was well worth the opportunity to see Harry smile at his little brother like that. Now if only he could keep that smile on his lover's face.

"Yes, dragons Tainen. I tell you what, how about when I get back to the Preserve I send your brother a present for you? A surprise from Dragon Land, would you like that?" Tainen was squealing and babbling excitedly but it was the look on Harry's face, out the corner of his eye, that was responsible for Charlie's grin. He had done good, Harry was happy, and all was right in his world. And as a bonus, he bet Harry would find an opportunity to say 'thank-you' before he left… Harry's thank-yous were always a good thing.

Severus didn't seem too thrilled by the prospect but before he had a chance to speak, before anyone had a chance to speak, Harry was already moving. "Well, I'm finished, Charlie looks done, and we have plans today before Charlie heads back to Romania, so I'll see you guys later. Don't wait lunch for me, or probably dinner." He grabbed Charlie and made it perfectly clear that they were leaving now. Charlie however had been raised to always be polite, and this was the family of the man he loved, so he took a moment to thank them for breakfast and make the appropriate comments about meeting them etc., before following Harry toward the door.

They almost made it too, but Cassi couldn't quite seem to resist one little dig at her stepson. She was smirking when she called her stepson's attention back to her before he and Charlie could make their escape. "Oh, Alex dear, I sent your shirts to the laundry, I know you probably didn't mean to leave them in the hall. Oddly enough one of them seemed to be too big for you… I guess it was an over-shirt or something…" Draco was gallantly trying not to laugh at the looks on Alex and Charlie's faces, Cassi's smirk could not possibly have gotten bigger, and Severus' faced was going bright red as he attempted to hold in his anger, knowing his son would kill him if he dared bitch at Charlie.

Harry decided retreat was the best option in the face of this situation, and Charlie needed no encouragement to quit the room, knowing it would take a lot more then wild horses to ever convince him to meet with Harry's family after this. He knew today wasn't a lucky day!

There you go guys! I know it wasn't as long as most of my chapters but I really do have things to do… more later! Oh, and I know that the varying ways Dragon Handlers were thought of was odd, they all had hinky different views of what that job meant but I'm sure at some point I will introduce Dragon Handling as an actual job not a Lion Tamer kinda deal.

Reviewing encourages me… and you know ya'll wanna do that! SO DO!


	18. Chapter 18

Hey pretty people, I should be working on my second take-home exam but I'm bored so I decided to write another chapter instead. I mean really, who cares what Ludwig Von Mises critique of socialism was? Or any of the other bloody questions! Thanks for all the great reviews!

**Chapter 18**

It didn't take Harry and Charlie long to make it back to Harry's room. Charlie was still bright red and looking like he was still hoping for that sudden unexplainable death to occur. Harry decided to react to the situation with his usual forbearance, and dismiss any feelings of, oh say, mortal embarrassment he may be harboring. Besides, after awhile the look on Charlie's face just proved bloody amusing.

"Well, that went well." Ohhh, Charlie REALLY hated it when Harry did that. Okay, normally he found it cute when Harry totally glossed over the typical emotional responses a situation bred, but not today. Not when the situation Harry was ignoring was his family finding their shirts in the hall and the logical conclusions that would breed.

"Oh yes, smashing." The sickly, sarcastic grimace on his face oddly enough belied his words.

"Anyway, I know you have today off so is there something you wanted or needed to do? Or do I get to pick today's fun?"

There were moments when Harry could look so sweet that Charlie never knew how anyone could tell the guy 'no'; he got this little smile on his face and his eyes seemed to shine, not with the artificial light of drugs or alcohol but with some inner light that at times lit up the world and sometimes seemed to have gone out, crushed under the weight of Harry's reality. Now was an instant of the latter. And Charlie couldn't tell him 'no'.

Reaching for Harry, he couldn't resist brushing his slightly longer 'Alex' hair back from is eyes, "Nothing that can't be put off. What did you have in mind?"

"How about we take a walk and I show you the grounds of Snape Manor. Maybe we could have a picnic for lunch? I don't remember the last chance we had to sit, just you and I, and relax."

"Mmm," A quick kiss was exchanged, "I could definitely get behind that idea."

It didn't take long to arrange with the House Elves for a picnic lunch to be delivered by the lake at lunch time, then the boys were off, headed outside for a lazy day together.

They spent the morning together just walking and relaxing, before sitting down to a veritable picnic feast prepared by the House Elves at lunch. In typical Harry fashion he offered Charlie hours of carnal delight after they had finished eating, but Charlie was enjoying the relaxing day, enjoying spending time with Harry, see, as much as he enjoyed it, anyone could have sex with Harry, but Charlie was one of the only people who got to see this part of the man he loved, and so they continued with their lazy day.

Charlie had to depart shortly before dinner; there were things to get done in Romania. Harry decided not to brave the family just yet though and instead took the opportunity to _enjoy_ a night of non-drug induced sleep, sometimes he just had to give into his body's demands for it, even though he knew it would lead to a night of terror and pain as visions from Voldemort mixed with the monsters already in his mind.

Oddly enough he was up terribly early the next morning, having slept for a good 10 hours, of course that sleep had been less then peaceful but his body still thanked him for it, even if his psyche didn't. Harry took the opportunity to head down to the lake to watch the sunrise, an event he had never understood the general fascination with but indulged in on occasion in the hopes that _this time_ he would get why it was so 'special'. Yet again, he didn't. He was still sitting there when Severus found him, having been tipped off by the House Elves.

"You're up early." Normally Harry would be pointing out with his sharp tongue the fact that obvious statements were fucking stupid, but something about the soft morning light, the dewy air and his fathers voice toned soothingly low was mellowing him out; the statement, and hell his very presence, didn't automatically piss him off for a change.

"Well, I was down early last night too."

"Charlie get off okay?" Obviously Sev was making an effort, inspired by Harry's soft response.

"Mmm, he left yesterday, had to get back."

They sat there then, just enjoying the morning. Harry enjoying the remnants of his mellow feeling, already beginning to fade as thoughts of reality invaded. Severus enjoying being in his son's presence when he hadn't managed to piss the boy off, a rare opportunity to just sit and relish his existence.

"The House Elves are going to set up breakfast on the patio, it's a nice morning for it. Cassi is setting it up and getting Tainen ready." Severus seemed to announce seemingly out of nowhere a little while later.

"We should head up then."

Breakfast was already set up when they reached the patio and the others were already pouring coffees while waiting for them. Greetings were exchanged and everybody started serving themselves, nobody seemed inclined to break the silence, instead enjoying the unusual lack of tension in the air that morning.

"So Drake, still want to do something together today? Maybe head into London and see a movie?" Harry knew that it probably wasn't the smartest move to spend the day with Draco, although arguments could be made that spending time with him would actually help to decrease suspicion, but still, probably not the smartest move. He was gonna do it anyway though, and he would really rather not spend time considering why that was.

"Yea, sounds great!" Draco could barely contain his excitement, he was practically bouncing in his seat in a most un-Malfoy, undignified way, but he was happy to be spending the day with his extremely cool big brother. Harry was much better at hiding his emotions, thankfully, otherwise he might not have been able to contain his amusement at seeming _Draco Malfoy_ bouncing in his seat.

"Lets go then." They said their good-byes, told the 'rents not to hold lunch for them, and then they were off.

From the park in Little Whinging they caught a taxi into London and headed toward the cinemas. Draco could barely stop starring; he had never spent any time amongst Muggles before. They seemed so normal, and yet so strange! And the ways they compensated for magic. Cars, and their clothes, and the people walking around listening to music on those little devices Alex had shown him a week or so back. And then they got to where they were going and Alex showed him a movie! He didn't understand a lot of what was happening, to much of it had required an understanding of Muggle society and technology but what he did understand and what he could figure out from following the plot, and even just seeing the projected pictures moving on the screen… it was so different then what he had expected.

Afterwards they went out for pizza at a nearby pizzeria, Draco waxing poetic about the movie the whole time. Harry couldn't keep the grin from his face, enjoying the sight of a pureblooded wizard's first introduction to the Muggle world. If he felt like being mean he might have drawn a parallel between this and the first time he and Mi had taken Ron to Muggle London to see a movie, the boys were scarily similar and he didn't think either of them would find that thought flattering.

It was toward the end of lunch when Harry noticed that Draco had gone quite. He seemed to be trying to get up the courage say something, and if the lack of eye contact and the blush spreading across his pale aristocratic skin was any indication it was something exceedingly embarrassing. Harry couldn't resist raging on the boy a little.

"What?" The smirk made it perfectly clear that he was amused by Draco's behavior, and Draco's blush just spread in response. "Spit it out already Drake!"

"Mmmm mm m m m mmm"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you?" Of course he couldn't hear him, Draco had mumbled into his own chest.

"What's it like to have sex?" Draco's voice was still so low that Harry had to strain to hear him, and when he did he was shocked by what he heard. Draco Malfoy was asking him about sex? Was Draco Malfoy was a virgin?

"What do you mean, what's it like? Do you mean at all or do you mean with another guy?" Harry was trying very hard not to allow his history with Malfoy to influence this little scene they were currently having. The growing relationship between 'Alex' and 'Draco' required that he not piss himself laughing at the boy but the relationship between 'Harry' and 'Malfoy' made him want to mock him to within an inch of his sanity.

"At all…" If they were going to have this bloody uncomfortable conversation Harry really wished Draco would talk to him and not down into his own chest so as Harry could actually hear him.

"You mean you've never…" What is it about uncomfortable conversations that make people stop finishing their sentences? Draco's blush was just getting worse.

"No…" it was practically whispered.

"Well, umm… it's hard to explain. What do you want to know? I mean, lets start with, do you prefer boys or girls? Cause obviously there are some fairly important differences between them." Harry hadn't been embarrassed about sex for years, and although this conversation had made him uncomfortable to start with he decided the 'who' he was talking to wasn't important; he'd just be normal about it.

"Umm, I like both, but I think girls a bit more then boys. Have you ever… with girls?" Who ever would have imagined that cocky git could get this red? But Harry wasn't going to hold it against him… actually he couldn't, 'Alex' wouldn't and 'Harry' didn't know.

"Yes, I have slept with both of the sexes. But again, what do you want to know? I mean, I assume you don't just want me to say 'it was good', I mean even bad sex is still good as long as everybody consents and you all get off, so… what is it you're looking for?"

"I… have you slept with a lot?"

"Drake, you know my reputation, it is not exaggerated, in fact it's probably understated. I have slept with _a lot_ of people, probably slightly more guys but still, a lot of girls."

"How old were you?"

"I lost my virginity when I was very young, most people would probably argue to young… I was 10."

"10! Were you… I mean, did you… you said before… about consent…?"

"Are you asking if I was raped?" Draco winced at the word but indicated that he was, "No, I have never been raped." Draco didn't need to know that you can't live the sort of life style that Harry lived without at least coming close once or twice, there were bad people out there and Harry knew far to many of them on a personal basis, but he was good at getting out of bad situations.

"I'm 16." He said it like it was some massive statement, some huge confession.

"So am I, what about it?"

"I've never… Some of my friends have, you have probably hundreds of times…"

"Are you asking if there is something wrong with you that you haven't? Draco it's not a bad thing that you have never had sex. I know that some people, especially guys, think that you should be out there fucking anything you can, like it's some kind of race to lose your virginity, but it's not. Look, there are a lot of different views on sex out there, some people think it is the physical act of love, others think it's a bit of fun and a great cardio workout. Me, I thinks it a great way to relax, it's something I really enjoy doing, and I don't think of it as in any way having anything to do with emotion. This being the case, I have sex whenever I want to, as often as I want to. But that is me. You are an entirely different person, and no matter what your view of sex is, don't be in any rush to have it. Wait until you know what you think of it, and until you are ready, and don't let anybody force you into it to soon. And a good rule of thumb, don't do anything you can't say, you can't talk about."

Draco seemed to relax a little bit after that, after he knew there was nothing 'wrong' with him, and was able to speak more freely on the topic. He had a lot of questions, and Harry supposed that Lucius never really spoke openly with Draco about sex. Eventually they slipped on to other topics, chatting about random things, Draco seemed especially intrigued by Muggles; maybe there was hope for the technically older teen after all.

--There you go people! I started it weeks ago but I never finished it. Exams are long over and marks are out… I PASSED! YAY! I will try to never take this long again to update, sorry about that… Kat

Please R&R under pain of 5 little men with annoyingly high voices singing "I'm Henry the 8th" all night in a very Ghost like scene…


	19. Chapter 19

Hey people, sorry about the mass amount of time between updates, I kinda got REALLY sick, like hospitalized sick, for agesssss. Took like 2 months off work and school, and then spent another 2 month attempting to catch up with it all while still being sick, they had just found a combination of drugs that were good enough to let me keep going in life… it was a truly fun time in my life!

Okay, enough bitching… thanks for all the reviews, totally appreciated it!

Chapter Nineteen 

It was the next morning as the family finished eating breakfast that Harry dropped his next bombshell. Sitting over the breakfast table he calmly announced that he had spoken to his Uncle in Motobo and would be leaving after lunch that very day.

Draco merely stared wide-eyed as he felt the level of tension in the dining room sky rocketed with that simple revelation. Alex sure knew how to get his godfather's attention.

Severus seemed to be trying to regain the ability to speak following the demonstration of the unlikely act of swallowing his own tongue. Who knew 'the great bat' had the ability to make that rather interesting face.

Cassi was just as shocked as her husband but at least had the piece of mind to attempt to maintain some level of calm. Cassi knew her husband, and she knew that he was not going to handle this sudden declaration calmly. Cassi was also growing to know her eldest son, and she knew that any overt demonstration by his father suggesting that he had some right to Harry's life would not go over well.

Tainen always seemed to miss the good stuff- ah well, to be young!

"WHAT?!" It was occurring to Harry that Snape tended to react to shock in only one way when dealing with Harry- a hastily yelled 'WHAT'. It amused him that he was what messed with the ice-cold spy's cool so easily.

"What 'what'? My Uncle wants me to come home. Holidays are over in a few weeks and he feels it is important that I see the rest of my family before school starts again. It's not like this seriously messes with any plans. I mean, don't you and Draco both have to return to Hogwarts, like, tomorrow or something? Tainen's summer schedule will be up soon and he will be returning with Cassi to his kiddie group. My leaving now is not pivotal." Harry managed to maintain a sneer and a patented eye brow raise which in combination seemed to suggest that any idiot knows these things and why was Severus asking such stupid questions.

With that said Harry inclined his head to the rest of the table in goodbye and left, he had deliberately left that announcement till after breakfast so there was no impediment to his hasty departure following his announcement. A strategic retreat, as it were.

It was no surprise to Harry when he heard the knock on his door not 15 minutes later. His money was on it being lovely peace-keeper Cassi, so it was a surprise when he opened the door to find Draco standing somewhat nervously on the other side.

"Hey, come on in. What's up?" Harry asked in question to Draco's discomfort.

"You really know how to surprise your father don't you?!"

"Well, I like keeping people on their toes. 'Sides, what did I say that wasn't true? And I think my Uncle has been very generous in letting me stay here. He does have custody of me, he knew how my mother felt about my father, and he just doesn't like him on principle. But when I decided I wanted to come here, he let me."

"Why did you decide to come here?" Draco hadn't realized that his brother might take that statement wrong until he saw him grimace at it. "I mean, you said it yourself that you two never really got along, that you had never before even stayed overnight, you don't seem to be reaching out to Sev, so I don't think you came here to finally get to know your father or anything like that, so, why?" Draco hastened to explain his earlier statement.

Alex paused for a second, like he was trying to figure it out himself. "Tainen is getting older now, he… I want him to know his big brother. I want to be a part of his life and if, to do that, that means staying with my father, spending time with him, then I am prepared to do that." With that Harry slammed his trunk shut, "now if you'll excuse me, I guess I better go deal with this…"

It didn't take Harry long to find Severus, he was sitting in his study working on some form of paper work, studiously ignoring his eldest son when he entered the room though it was obvious he knew Harry was there by the force with which he seemed to be slamming the papers around on his desk.

"It is logical, sir. You and Draco are both gone tomorrow, this allows me to leave at the same time without it in anyway being suspicious, and also, I always spend the night before we return to Hogwarts with the Weasley's."

Severus knew what his son was saying made sense, but that didn't stop him from wanting his son to leave for school from his home. He knew that with Draco there it was extremely impractical, but he wanted that last second scrounge to make sure everything was packed, that nothing had been forgotten, he wanted to experience it. Although, with the care Harry took to always remain ready packed he supposed there would be no last minute scrounge with his son.

"I realize all this, and you are right, it is practical." It was obvious that a 'but…' of some variety was coming and Harry had no desire to hear it.

Harry was therefore quick to jump in before Severus had a chance to begin his next sentence. "Great, so I'll see you for lunch and afterwards I'll be off." Harry wanted to leave things there, this seemed like the perfect moment to end the conversation but, alas, there was still business to discuss. "We should perhaps discuss school, sir. It would not be good for your health to in any way alter your behavior toward me, that being said we need to maintain the behavior toward each other of previous years."

Already Severus was missing the 'Daddy dearests' and 'Father mines' of the past few weeks, despite the fact that Harry had always maintained a slightly sarcastic tone when calling him that, it was by far better then calling him 'sir'.

Again, he knew his son was right, but that didn't help at all. In fact, he rather wished his son were just a little less right all the time. He always had a read on any situation and a logical course of action to handle it. It was infuriating, because the logical course of action was rarely the course that gave Severus what he wanted.

He had taken too long to think about it, because Harry was already heading out the door having made some cursory goodbye.

Harry to-do list seemed to shrinking rapidly today, only one thing to go Harry supposed. Draco had been easy, Sev had been in too much shock to prove difficult (and Harry really hoped to be gone by the time that changed), packing was no problem, Tainen was really too young to understand so that would only take a few moments, all that left was Cassi.

It hadn't taken Harry long to start genuinely liking his 'dreaded step-mother'. She was nice, always tried to keep the peace, never pushed, and Harry could tell that she was really trying. He appreciated that, appreciated that he wasn't easy, that suddenly finding out you had a step-son, and one like him to boot, can't have been easy, and yet she never complained, never made him feel awkward or unwelcome. She welcomed him into her home with open arms, she even made him feel like she _wanted_ him there.

He found her outside watching over Tainen as he played some intricate game that seemed to involve hiding between bushes in the garden.

"Cassi?"

"I knew you'd be leaving soon anyway. Just… promise to keep in touch, that we can at least talk about you staying here next summer, maybe even negotiate about possible Christmas visitation?"

They exchanged small smiles, they understood each other.

"If you need to contact me during the school year, use an owl that won't be recognized by anyone, even Malfoy who probably knows your family owls well. I'll keep in touch, can't be letting him forget me now." Harry indicated Tainen. "You know I don't plan ahead so Christmas is not even a conversation yet." He looked her right in the eyes, "It's been real Cassi, thanks."

They both knew he what he was talking about, both knew that it was the closest to gushing he was ever likely to get, she knew he meant it and it was enough for her. She didn't even comment when he beat a hasty retreat in the form of heading over to Tainen. It was still an hour till lunch and he was ready, may as well spend the rest of the day with his brother.

Lunch was a quite affair, there was no gushing, no sudden emotional displays, they ate and afterwards simple goodbyes were said. Harry hugged Cassi and Tainen, shook hands with Draco, explaining that it was best to contact him by sending letters to Cassi and that she would send them on if he were so inclined, then came time to say goodbye to Severus.

"Well, ah, see ya…" and he was gone, up the stairs to grab his trunk before taking the port-key Charlie had made for him during his visit, to the Weasley Home.

Reviews demanded


End file.
